She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Sussex, UK. Prof. Abdi's extensive ethnographic research mostly focuses on Somali refugee experiences of dislocation and settlement. Her publications focus on issues of migration, gender and family, and ethnic and religious identity processes. Prof. Abdi is finishing a book about Somali refugee settlements in the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the United States. She has projects under review: “Moving Beyond ‘Xenophobia': Structural Poverty, Conflict and Encounters with the ‘Other' Africans” and “Regional Approach to Gender and Conflict in the Horn of Africa.”