Griet Steel received her PhD in cultural anthropology in October 2008 at the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands) and started working as a post doctoral fellow at IOB. This position combines both teaching and research. She lectures courses on qualitative and participatory research approaches, urban poverty and social exclusion. Her research activities include ethnographic studies on urban poverty, informal economic activities and translocal migration and mobility. Within these topics she focuses her research on the position of social vulnerable actors such as children, youngsters and informal workers in Latin America. Furthermore, Griet Steel a ctively participates in VLIR UOS research and training projects in Nicaragua and Ecuador. She works together with local researchers in these countries and organizes participative workshops on qualitative research methods and local development strategies.