Cathy Haenlein is an interdisciplinary research leader with extensive experience directing high-profile research in the think-tank sector, with a focus on transnational organised crime, illicit finance, environmental crime and corruption.
She is Director of the Organised Crime and Policing research group at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Cathy is also Chair of RUSI's Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research (SHOC), set up in partnership with the Home Office, National Crime Agency, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Research Councils UK's Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security.
Cathy is experienced in designing complex research programmes relating to crime and corruption, having conducted fieldwork for the European Commission, OECD and British government, among others, in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Gabon and Sierra Leone. She is skilled in business development, having raised >£8 million in the last 5 years for innovative projects targeting critical gaps in the evidence base, providing policymakers with high-quality evidence to response to today's pressing security threats.
Over a career spanning multiple sectors, including graphic design, communications and business development, she has developed strong research and communications skills. Cathy also has a specialist editorial skillset, is passionate about ensuring the highest quality of written output, and is a trained graphic designer, skilled in data visualisation.
Cathy has authored 25+ peer-reviewed paper and book chapters and 40+ shorter-form articles and commentaries on topics from wildlife crime to illicit financial flows, and the organised crime dynamics behind illicit trade. She is also the editor, with M L R Smith, of the book 'Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa: Myths and Realities' (Abingdon: Taylor and Francis, 2016).
A regular speaker at international conferences, Cathy has presented at high-level fora including the G7, OECD and European Parliament, and her work has featured in the Economist, Guardian, Financial Times, New York Times, BBC, The Times and CNN.
She holds an MSc (distinction) in African Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, with a focus on crime, conflict and governance. She holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Social Sciences (Criminology, Geography, Politics). Before RUSI, she spent five years living and working in Italy, including on European journals on EU–African relations, with a focus on migration and organised immigration crime, and a year working in southern Madagascar in the international development sector.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Cathy Haenlein, 'Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2023: Conference Report', RUSI Conference Report, 8 July 2023
RUSI’s inaugural Serious and Organised Crime Conference brought together law enforcement officers, policymakers, academics and industry experts to determine how key stakeholders can collaborate to enhance the effectiveness of the response to organised crime. The main aim was to support the National Crime Agency and system partners to consolidate a set of relationships with external researchers on behalf of the wider system. Constructive challenge to existing assumptions was encouraged, with the conference designed to facilitate open and honest exchange. This report presents the findings across 6 panel sessions, 3 high-level 'In Conversation with' sessions, 3 keynotes and 3 interactive breakout sessions.
RUSI’s inaugural Serious and Organised Crime Conference brought together law enforcement officers, policymakers, academics and industry experts to determine how key stakeholders can collaborate to enhance the effectiveness of the response to organised crime. The main aim was to support the National Crime Agency and system partners to consolidate a set of relationships with external researchers on behalf of the wider system. Constructive challenge to existing assumptions was encouraged, with the conference designed to facilitate open and honest exchange. This report presents the findings across 6 panel sessions, 3 high-level 'In Conversation with' sessions, 3 keynotes and 3 interactive breakout sessions.
Order Now: 'Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa: Myths and Realities' (Abingdon, Routledge, 2016)
The book 'Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa: Myths and Realities' brings together contributions from academics and practitioners working on various aspects of the wildlife crime-security nexus. In doing so, it critically analyses common narratives on poaching and wildlife trafficking as threats to human security, as drivers of conflict, as funders of terrorism and as revenue for organised crime. In each case, it seeks to sort myth from reality, clarifying how poaching and wildlife trafficking, as much cited security threats, can most accurately be conceived.
The book 'Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa: Myths and Realities' brings together contributions from academics and practitioners working on various aspects of the wildlife crime-security nexus. In doing so, it critically analyses common narratives on poaching and wildlife trafficking as threats to human security, as drivers of conflict, as funders of terrorism and as revenue for organised crime. In each case, it seeks to sort myth from reality, clarifying how poaching and wildlife trafficking, as much cited security threats, can most accurately be conceived.