Chris Colley was a Research Associate at the Centre for Chinese Studies. Chris has been living, studying and traveling in China since 2002. After graduating from Moravian College with a degree in Political Science, Chris taught at an international high school in Shanghai for two years and studied Mandarin at Beijing Language and Culture University.

In 2006 he entered a Masters Degree program in contemporary Chinese studies at China’s People’s University in Beijing. With an emphasis on Chinese foreign policy and emerging civil society, he is currently working on his Master’s thesis entitled “China’s Future Blue Water Navy and its Implications for the United States” and is co-authoring a comparative study on Chinese and American environmental regulations.

While at People’s University, Chris lectured on China’s international relations at undergraduate and graduate level. In 2006 he taught a semester on Sino/ U.S. relations to IR undergraduates and was responsible for China Development Brief’s directory of International NGO’s in China until July 2007.

Chris was an organizer and participant in “China’s role in the Global South” conference held in Shanghai in May 2007 and has traveled extensively throughout China and Asia, visiting all of China’s provinces and administrative zones.  He is currently writing and conducting research for Reuters in Beijing.

Sylvia Croese was an Analyst at the Centre for Chinese Studies. She obtained a BA and MA in international relations at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. During her studies, she took part in an exchange programme with the University of Coimbra, Portugal.
As part of her Master’s degree, Sylvia did an internship at the African Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi, Kenya. She wrote her final thesis on ‘Sino-African relations in the 21st century: a dependency perspective’. Prior to joining the CCS, she worked at The Agency for International Business and Cooperation (EVD), part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Rachel Laribee
Rachel Laribee is an Analyst at the Centre for Chinese Studies. She is currently working on her Masters degree in International Development at American University in Washington D.C. She holds a Bachelors Dual-Degree in Mandarin and Chinese culture, and spent a semester in Shanghai at Fudan University studying Mandarin. Prior to coming to the Centre for Chinese Studies, Rachel worked with NGOs as an AmeriCorps member (the domestic Peace Corps in the United States), travelled to Tibet to gather research and write on Tibetan modernity and the Tibetan Sky Burial, and spent time in Argentina working to increase funds for their orphanages and learning centres. Rachel's Masters thesis will focus on Chinese communities in South Africa.

Abigail Brown

Abigail Brown was an Analyst at the Centre for Chinese Studies.Having obtained her Bachelors degree in Geography from Cambridge University, Abigail moved to China for two years and is currently completing a joint Masters program in International Affairs from Peking University and the London School of Economics. While in Beijing Abigail worked at the UNDP and the EC Delegation, before joining the EU China Information Society Project where she organized international conferences and research reports on e-government for the Chinese government and EU representatives. Abigail’s first MA thesis for Peking University concerned the impact and implications of China’s involvement in Africa and her second MSc thesis for the LSE will examine the historical roots of conflict in Sudan.

Abigail is conversant in French, Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia. She is currently studying Arabic with a view to carrying out field work in Sudan next year.

Edith Papp

Edith Papp was a visiting research scholar at CCS focused on China's engagement with Sub-Saharan Africa.  She recently completed a post-graduate course in Chinese history and culture and is currently pursuing a PhD at the National University for Distance Education (UNED) in Madrid, Spain. 

Edith has a long standing interest in issues related to the "Global South" with extensive experience in publishing in the South American press. Edith holds an undergraduate degree in journalism, a diploma of advanced studies in international relations and African studies from the Department of Political Science at the Autonomous University of Madrid.  She is a native speaker of Hungarian; fluent in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese; and has recently started studying Mandarin.

Dr. Peter Kragelund is a visiting researcher at the Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University. He holds a position as a researcher at the Trade and Development Research Unit at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Copenhagen. Peter is currently involved in a research project entitled: 'Chinese drivers for African development: maximizing the local benefits of Chinese investments in Zambia', which seeks to further our understanding of the effects of Chinese foreign direct investments and how African economies may benefit from these. Prior to this Peter worked extensively on how and to what extent development aid may catalyse private sector development in Africa.

He holds a PhD degree from International Development Studies, Roskilde University and a Masters degree in Economic Geography, University of Copenhagen.

Agnese Formica

Agnese Formica is a visiting research scholar at the CCS focusing on the impact of China’s official development assistance on social development in Africa. She is a PhD student at Urbino University in Italy.

After obtaining a degree in Oriental Studies at Rome University, she completed her Masters degree in International Trade sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission at Venice International University. She also spent two years in China studying and working in the field of international law.

Agnese is a native speaker of Italian, fluent in English and Mandarin and conversant in French.