Tatiana Thieme is a researcher and professor of geography at UCL (University College London). She has worked and taught on the themes of development and urban services in contexts of great economic and social precariousness.
A graduate in anthropology and law (London School of Economics), and having completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge (2008-2013) on informal economies and on sanitation and waste management in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, Tatiana Thieme focuses on ethnographic methods and reflections to better understand not only the local survival strategies of these poor populations, but also and above all their methods of coping with frugality; that can serve as an example of economic expertise and be incorporated into development strategies to improve access to urban services.
Tatiana Thiéme has been working since 2011 within the HEC Chair of Enterprise and Poverty on participatory methods, focusing on how to engage informal economies and better understand not only their needs but also their added value.