Krister Björklund has worked at the Institute of Migration since 1992. He is a sociologist and his field of specialization is migration. He has been guest resarcher at at Lund university 1994, Odense University 1995-1997 and several universities in Japan, most recently visiting professor at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka (2006-2007).

He has published books and articles on Finnish migration to various European countries, on internal migration in Germany and Japan, on migration between China and Japan and many other topics. His field of expertise also includes genealogy relating to historical emigration.