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My original training was in Mathematics (DEA/M. Sc. at Paris VII University on set theory) as well as in Sociology (Maîtrise at Paris V on Sociology of Art). But I branched off thereafter towards Demography (DESS, DEA and then PhD at IDUP, Paris I). I first spent two years in India affiliated to the Delhi School of of Economics and to the Institute of Economic growth, during which time I also worked for the Ecole française d'Extrème-Orient (EFEO). The Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) welcomed me later for 18 months during my Ph.D.

When I joined IRD (then ORSTOM) in 1990 as research associate, my first assignment was in Dakar, Senegal for 3 years where I joined forces with the Direction de la Prévision et de la Statistique to conduct a migration survey in the Senegal River Valley. I learnt quite a bit on survey things and on economic theory as well. I went back to Paris in 1994 and worked at Paris I (IDUP) till 1997.

To go back to India, I joined the French Institute in Pondicherry in 1997 as head of social science department on secondment. There, I worked closely with other Indian institutions on a multisite joint project (SIFP) project and got involved into fertility decline and spatial thinking. Back in France, I joined the LPED research unit and I was locally affiliated in Paris to the CEIAS/EHESS in 2002-04.

I became director of CICRED in January 2005 till September 2007. During this period, I spent most of my time as programme manager (in particular as coordinator of PRIPODE) for CICRED. Since then, I joined the new CEPED research unit, a joint collboration between Université Paris Descartes, Ined, and IR. Over the last couple of years, I have mostly worked on sex ratio in Asia and Eastern Europe, with local colleagues and also in coordination with UNFPA (Katmandu, Delhi and Hanoi offices).

I have meanwhile taught at EHESS in 2001-03 and again since 2008 with Isabelle Attané. I have been teaching a course on Population in developing countries at Paris I Institute of Demography in 2005-09. I also run a yearly traineeship programme on GIS, geostatistics and demography as part of the RFFD. At Paris Descartes, I teach a class on GIS and spatial analysis.

My research interests in population studies started with historical and contemporary demography of South India (Tamil Nadu), as well as urban geography supplemented by field work in a pilgrimage town. With IRD, I started working on migration from the Senegal River valley conducting surveys and linking research findings to recent economic literature on migration determinants and processes. Later on, I started focusing on fertility decline in South India and decided to explore tools from spatial analysis and then geostatistics. Latest research interests encompass environmental change, female discrimination in Asia and poverty mapping, harnessing innovative GIS tools to enlarge research hypotheses on demographic change. I am presently working on masculinization processes across the world and household structures.