Laurène holds a M.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences with a specialization in tropical areas and a Ph.D. in Geography from Montpellier University, in France. Her research mainly deals with the agrarian transition in Southeast Asia and Pacific, with a focus on the drivers of land use change and deforestation. She is currently conducting research on oil palm development in Indonesia and agroforests conversion to monospecific plantations, looking at the drivers of these trends and their impacts on livelihoods.