Our research in ocean governance seeks to illuminate and reimagine the way that people use and conserve the oceans. Governance includes formal policies and the actions of governments, but it’s much broader than that.
Our work focuses on:
- Who makes decisions about ocean space, including governmental and non-governmental actors;
- The formal and informal processes, rules, and norms through which those decisions are made and implemented;
- The power dynamics, politics, and discourses that influence decision-making; and
- The associated outcomes for people and nature.
We know that transformations in governance are critical for the oceans and the human communities that depend on them. Our goal is to identify governance transformations that can advance human well-being, social justice, and ocean sustainability.
Our research is problem-driven. This means that the topics, methods, literatures, collaborators, and geographies we engage are as diverse as the questions we are asking. Lab members have worked on projects related to marine protected areas, the blue economy, blue carbon, small-scale fisheries, global oceans governance, ocean philanthropy, and more. We contribute to collective action and commons scholarship as well as literatures in political ecology, human geography, global environmental politics, and environmental justice. We embrace opportunities for creative and outside-the-box collaborations and methods, such as our emerging work with arts-based research.
Learn more about our publications, methods, current projects, and funding using the links below.
