Vanessa is a specialist in conflict and security studies, with expertise in conflict analysis, mediation, peacebuilding, and gender-sensitive governance, particularly in the context of EU integration and enlargement. She has over a decade of international experience as a researcher, lecturer, and program coordinator working in conflict-sensitive and post-conflict environments across Georgia, Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the wider European neighborhood. She is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Politics and International Relations at Civitas University in Warsaw, Poland. She previously served as Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator at the Social Sciences University of Ankara (2015–2019), where she also managed international training initiatives in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Dr. Tinker holds a Ph.D. in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent (UK), as well as degrees from San Diego State University and Franklin University Switzerland. Her research and teaching focus on democratic resilience, institutional transformation, and conflict management, drawing on International Relations, political sociology, and gender studies Her recent publications include work on democratic backsliding and EU enlargement in Eastern Europe, including articles in Reality of Politics (2025) and Przegląd Europejski / European Studies Quarterly (2024).