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Debora Lira de Lacerda was awarded the prestigious 2025 NUI Travelling Doctoral Studentship in Humanities and Social Sciences. Debora is a lawyer with expertise in international human rights law. She worked as a consultant for organisations like Oxfam Brazil. She holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway.

She will conduct her research at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, under the supervision of Dr Anita Ferrara. Her Ph.D. project, titled “Rights, Reparation, and Resilience: Transitional Justice and Environmental Recovery in Brazil”, explores how the Brazilian government and society have addressed the environmental impacts resulting from the state policies and practices during the military dictatorship.

The study aims to advance transitional justice theory by examining mechanisms designed to ensure accountability, justice, and reconciliation, particularly in response to the environmental crisis stemming from the political agenda of authoritarian regimes. It investigates whether Brazil’s justice processes have recognised and addressed the environmental impact of past human rights violations. By doing so, the study seeks to deepen our understanding of how environmental harm can be integrated into broader efforts to achieve justice and reconciliation after authoritarianism.