Building bridges across the Global South

When Associate Professor Catalina Torres was awarded a fellowship to conduct research in Australia, her colleagues in Uruguay did not let her sleep on it: “you have to go,” they said.  

Torres hesitated at first. Her research area back home has only two academics –including herself – and she wasn’t keen on leaving her teaching duties hanging.  

But her coworkers insisted: “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got you.” 

“It felt good to be fully supported,” Torres says.

“As the person responsible for my area of research back home it is really important to build international collaborations.” 

Torres is spending two months at the Australian National University (ANU) as one of the 2025 Global South Visiting Fellows – a program run by the College of Arts and Social Sciences to strengthen research capacity in regions often overlooked by Australian academia, such as Latin America and Africa.  

ANU is, according to Torres, the ideal environment to push her research further. 

“Coming to ANU from a public university in Latin America was a bit of a shock,” she says.  

“Here, there are beautiful green spaces and quality services such as libraries nearby, all in the same space.  

“Don’t get me wrong, in Uruguay I have an office, a computer and everything I need to do my work, but very often you run into small things that don’t quite work as they should. 

“For example, we don’t have free access to many research articles. This can be frustrating. It’s an essential resource for us researchers.” 

Moving within the Southern Hemisphere also spared Torres the hassle of packing for a new season. 

“It’s winter in Uruguay too, so the rhythm of the season feels familiar, as Montevideo and Canberra are almost at the same latitude and the temperature is very similar in both cities,” she says.  

Latin America under the microscope

Torres is no stranger to crossing borders in pursuit of knowledge.    

Born in Colombia, she and her family migrated to Canada when she was 15.  

Since then, her academic path has taken her to places including Denmark, Poland and France, all with one goal: advancing her research on patterns of mortality in historical and contemporary populations. 

At ANU, Torres is joining forces with Professor Vladimir Canudas-Romo – head of the School of Demography and one of the top minds in the field.  

Together, they are collaborating with PhD candidate Claudia Avila from Paraguay to examine Latin America’s dramatic demographic transition, one of the fastest in recent history. 

“Europe took more than a century to transition from high birth and death rates to low ones, and it did so at a slow to moderate pace. In Latin America, this has happened very quickly, in a matter of decades –mainly from the mid 20th century onwards,” she says.  

“Fertility and infant mortality have declined really fast. Many countries in the region are now below the fertility replacement rate, which is around 2.1 children per woman. 

“Life expectancy is also increasing, although Latin America remains one of the most unequal regions of the world in terms of living conditions. In countries like Colombia, violence still has a direct and devastating impact on mortality.”  

This collaboration is allowing Torres to access the mathematical modelling expertise needed to understand more realistically the demographic data available in Latin America.  

“My previous work has focused on mortality patterns during the 19th century in Europe, but studying Latin America is new to me. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from Professor Canudas-Romo,” she says.  

“This experience will strengthen our small research group in Montevideo and, more broadly, our understanding of how our region is changing.” 

Torres thinks Latin America deserves more attention in global academic conversations. 

“Latin America is home to about 8.5 per cent of the world population,” she says.   

“Australia and Latin America also share some demographic challenges, particularly around population ageing. This has an impact on the pension system and aged care services.  

“Surely, universities tend to focus on regions that are nearby or have deep historical ties. But why stop there? Latin America has a lot to offer, and this fellowship is the perfect opportunity to broaden that narrow vision.”