Partner Institutes

Jack Kittinger, Global Institute of Sustainability

John N. (“Jack”) Kittinger is the Senior Director of the Global Fisheries and Aquaculture Program in Conservation International’s Center for Oceans and a Professor of Practice in Arizona State University’s Global Futures Laboratory and School of Sustainability. Under his leadership, CI works to protect biodiversity and improve the wellbeing of ocean-dependent communities by implementing sustainable fisheries and aquaculture solutions built on partnerships and investments from ocean to plate. A lifelong surfer, fisher and waterman, he is committed to ocean-based learning experiences and to being in the water as often as possible. He and his family live in Niu Valley, Oahu, Hawai‘i.

Visit http://asu.edu

Richard Caddell, School of Law

Richard Caddell is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Cardiff University and a Principal Investigator within the Ocean Nexus Programme, researching the topic ‘Brexit, Devolution and the Sea’. His project examines the legal powers over the marine environment across the UK in the context of the devolution settlements and the repatriation of legislative competences through the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Caddell’s primary research interests engage the law of the sea, international environmental law and human rights, and he has published widely on biodiversity conservation, marine environmental regulation, fisheries governance and Polar law. He is the author of Migratory Species and International Law: Challenges of Transboundary Conservation (forthcoming, 2022) and co-editor of Research Handbook on Climate Change and Biodiversity Law (forthcoming, 2022) Strengthening International Fisheries Law in an Era of Changing Oceans (2019) and Shipping, Law and the Environment in the Twenty-First Century (2013). Caddell regularly acts as a legal advisor on environmental and marine issues and is an academic member of Francis Taylor Building, Inner Temple, the UK’s foremost Planning and Environment Law set of barristers.

Visit https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/

Megan Bailey, Marine Affairs Program

Megan Bailey’s research focuses on how market and state approaches can combine to improve cooperation around global fisheries governance. Specifically,  Bailey combines game theory with concepts from global value chain and informational governance to investigate how value chain and traceability information can help to transform seafood governance processes. This work integrates notions of sustainability governance dealing with both production and consumption, and seeks to evaluate and understand the various opportunities and limitations of governing through different value chain nodes and in different geographical space.

Sherry Pictou, Schulich School of Law and School of Public Administration

Sherry Pictou is a Mi’kmaw woman from L’sɨtkuk (water cuts through high rocks) known as Bear River First Nation, Nova Scotia. She worked as an Assistant Professor in the Women’s Studies Department at Mount Saint Vincent University with a focus on Indigenous Feminism (2017-2020). She is also a former Chief for her community and the former Co-Chair of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples. She is a member of the IPBES Task Force on Indigenous and Local Knowledge. Her research interests include decolonizing treaty relations, Social Justice for Indigenous Women, Indigenous women’s role in food and lifeways, and Indigenous knowledge and food systems.

Wilf Swartz, Marine Affairs Program

Deputy Director, Ocean Nexus

Wilf Swartz is a fisheries economist with focuses primarily on seafood supply chain management, specifically, corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in the seafood industry and sustainability standards, and policies for economic security in coastal communities. Swartz has been with the Nippon Foundation Nereus Program since, first as a Research Fellow (2012-14) and then as a Program Manager (2014-16, 2018-19). Swartz has also worked as a Research Officer for the World Trade Organization (Geneva, 2011) and as the Director of Environmental Policies at the Ocean Policy Research Institute (Tokyo, 2016-18).

 

Visit https://www.dal.ca/

Elsie Sunderland, Department of Environmental Health

Elsie Sunderland received her Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in Environmental Science and her PhD in Environmental Toxicology from Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management. Prior to joining the faculty at Harvard, she held several positions at the headquarters for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she worked on regulatory impact assessments and the development and application of models to inform policy decisions. She became a faculty member at HSPH 2010, and joined SEAS in 2014. In 2018, she became a faculty affiliate of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard.

Visit https://www.harvard.edu/ 

Mathieu Colléter

Mathieu Colléter is an agronomic engineer specialized in fisheries sciences and a PhD in marine ecology. He thereafter worked as a postdoctoral fellow within the research programs Sea Around Us and Nereus at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). His work focused on the modeling of marine ecosystems and the impacts of fishing and climate change. Wanting to work more at the interaction between science and public policy, Colléter returned to France to follow a one-year Master’s degree in environmental policy at SciencesPo Paris. He then worked for three years in an environmental NGO as ‘Science & Policy Officer’, developing and leading advocacy campaigns at the European level. Thanks to these experiences, Colléter developed a research interest on the inclusion and structuring of European small-scale fishers in European fisheries policies. He will investigate this topic within the Ocean Nexus international research program and will be hosted at the Institut National Polytechnique (INP-ENSAT, Toulouse, France) and the Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI, Paris, France).

Visit https://www.inp-toulouse.fr/en/index.html

Gerald Singh, Department of Geography

Deputy Director of Science, Ocean Nexus

Gerald Singh’s research is primarily situated in the science-policy interface, and focused on understanding the dynamics between social, economic, and environmental dimensions in sustainable development. This focus takes form in the following ways: 1) assessing cumulative anthropogenic impacts on the environment and understanding the consequences to people; 2) determine priority policy actions and plans to achieve specific sustainable development objectives (particularly the Sustainable Development Goals); 3) understand risk and uncertainty in sustainability policy and management. Doing work in any one of these areas means navigating data gaps, and using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as structured expert elicitation, in his research.

Visit https://www.mun.ca/

Ana Spalding, Marine and Coastal Policy

Ana Spalding is Assistant Professor of Marine and Coastal Policy at Oregon State University; and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Coiba Research Station – AIP in Panama. She has a PhD in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a MA in Marine Affairs and Policy from the University of Miami, and a BA in International Economics from the University of Richmond. She has published widely on the socio-environmental outcomes of lifestyle migration to Panama; on the linkages between land use and policy, property rights, and development; and, more broadly, on the evolution of marine policy and conservation in Panama and the United States. She is also fascinated by interdisciplinarity and collaboration as an academic endeavor, where it no longer represents an abstract concept, but instead has become a critical framework for addressing global environmental threats. Her current research includes the study of adaptive capacity to ocean acidification in resource-dependent communities in California, and science-policy engagement related to ocean acidification on the West Coast of the United States. On an international scale, she is interested in exploring the current state and future of Anthropocene ocean governance; particularly as it relates to marine protected areas, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Blue Economy, and the role of the ocean in achieving climate and societal goals.

Visit https://oregonstate.edu/

Chris McOwen

Chris McOwen is an interdisciplinary scientist, whose research spans local, national, regional and global scales, combining experience in marine policy, ecology and biodiversity, ecosystem services, fisheries science and spatial conservation planning. McOwen’s role is to manage and provide technical oversight and scientific knowledge to projects at the science-policy interface. His main activities revolve around the analysis of coastal and marine biodiversity, environmental and socio-economic datasets. He supervises PhD and post-doctoral students in collaboration with the University of Cambridge. McOwen has a research background in marine biology, biodiversity modelling and spatial ecology. McOwen obtained his PhD from the University of St Andrews where he developed statistical models to identify species and regions of conservation importance. Prior to his current role, McOwen was a postdoctoral scientist at UNEP-WCMC and the University of Cambridge. In this role he identified the ecological, oceanographic and socio-ecological drivers of fisheries production, in order to predict patterns of resource utilisation and develop policies to exploit marine ecosystems more sustainably.

Visit https://www.unep-wcmc.org/

Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries

Deputy Director, Ocean Nexus

Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor is deputy director of the Ocean Nexus Program and Research Associate at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in applied resource economics and is engaged in research and policy on human development and the Blue Economy, including artisanal and Indigenous fisheries, ecotourism, and emerging ocean sectors in developing and developed regions including Belize, Canada, Central America, East Asia, Mexico, Patagonia, the USA, and West Africa. Cisneros-Montemayor has published over 60 peer-reviewed studies and book chapters, and is an active participant and advisor in international and national ocean policy.

Visit https://www.ubc.ca/

Kate Barclay, Fisheries, Maritimes and Coastal Studies

Kate Barclay researches the social aspects of fisheries. Since the late 1990s she has researched the sustainable development of tuna resources in the island Pacific in the context of changing governance systems and globalisation. Recent projects include multidisciplinary work to evaluate the social and economic contributions fisheries and aquaculture make to coastal communities in Australia, and a governance analysis of the supply chain of beche de mer from Papua New Guinea to markets around Asia.

 

Michael Fabinyi, Fisheries, Maritimes and Coastal Studies

Michael Fabinyi uses theories and methods from the social sciences to understand the social, political and cultural aspects of marine resource use and management. Current research interests include: coastal livelihood change in Southeast Asia, the blue economy, and the role of China in global fisheries. He completed his PhD at the Australian National University (2009), and from 2010-2016 worked at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University. He has lived and worked in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Solomon Islands. He has held visiting appointments at Peking University (2013-14), WorldFish, Malaysia (2015), and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Palawan State University, Philippines.

Visit https://www.uts.edu.au/

Tiff-Annie Kenny, Faculté de Médecine

Tiff-Annie Kenny is interested in human dependency on biodiversity for nutrition and food security. Her research employs participatory and systems-based methodologies to examine the links between marine environments and human health, with a particular focus on the ecological, environmental, and economic dimensions of Indigenous Peoples food systems.  Kenny holds a B.Eng. and an MSc. (Applied) in Biosystems Engineering from McGill University, and a PhD in Biology from the University of Ottawa.

Visit https://www.ulaval.ca/en/

Chris Rothschild, Information School

Rothschild is a senior research scientist at the University of Washington Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA) and a Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Fellow. His work focuses on community information and knowledge systems and how varying approaches to and definitions of data can be incorporated into community and large-scale decision-making. Chris’ Fellowship with the Nippon Foundation is centered on creating culturally appropriate tools and resources for local organizations to build better marine data and inform decisions for managing marine resources and ecosystems. Chris has used participatory practices and qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct research in over 20 countries. In addition to his research, Chris teaches study abroad courses in Tahiti and Ghana on traditional knowledge systems, oral traditions, and field research methods. Chris holds a Master of Public Administration and a Masters of Arts in International Studies, both from the University of Washington.

 

Elaine Faustman, School of Public Health

Elaine Faustman is a toxicologist and Professor in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. She is also Adjunct Professor in the UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Faustman received the 2019 Merit Award from the International Union of Toxicology for her intellectual contributions to the field and a career dedicated to mentoring scientists around the world. She also was elected in 2019 to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, recognizing her work on risk assessment of chemical hazards and her contributions in neurodevelopmental toxicology.

 

Grant Blume, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance

Grant Blume is a faculty member at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance. He earned an MPA at the Evans School in 2010 and a Ph.D. from the school’s Public Policy & Management program in 2016. Blume is also an affiliate faculty member of the University of Washington’s Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI). Blume teaches courses on policy analysis, program evaluation, research methods, and public speaking. Blume’s current research agenda focuses on the intersections among public management, public policy, and issues related to education, race, and equity. His present research projects include a study of the City of Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative and statistical analyses that explore community college students’ pathways to and through postsecondary education. Blume is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), an instrument that serves as a catalyst for assessing and developing intercultural skills. Blume has served as the lead researcher on a number of evaluation projects in Washington State. As a fellow of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) pre-doctoral training program at the University of Washington, Blume received extensive training in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research methods. Prior to graduate school, Blume’s professional experience included public service as a college admissions officer and as a legislative aide for a member of Congress in Washington, D.C.

 

Kate Crosman, Ocean Nexus Center, EarthLab

Principal Research Scientist, Ocean Nexus

Kate Crosman holds a BA (honors) in Political Science from Davidson College, an MS in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Public Policy and Management from the University of Washington. Crosman’s research focuses on integrating equity into ocean governance, with particular attention to how varied users of marine and coastal resources engage in, experience, understand and respond to interventions by governance actors including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and others. Her work is underpinned by a personal passion for understanding and creating the conditions that facilitate sustainable human interaction with the natural world.

 

P. Joshua Griffin, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, American Indian Studies

P. Joshua Griffin is an environmental anthropologist working at the intersections of Indigenous studies, political ecology, critical social science, and the human dimensions of climate change. His community-engaged research focuses on Arctic Indigenous ecologies, climate change, environmental health, food sovereignty, hunting and fishing governance/rights, and environmental planning. More broadly, he is interested in approaches to “climate adaptation” that center Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination; participatory digital methods to support Indigenous environmental history, cultural heritage and planning; coastal dynamics, sea level rise, and climate-induced migration; and social movements for environmental and climate justice, including faith-based movements.

 

Ryan Kelly, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Trained as both an ecologist and a lawyer, Ryan Kelly has a broad set of interests, focused both on hard scientific data and policymakers’ use of those data. From the science side, he studies the interplay between geography, ecology, and genetics in marine species. His more applied research joins genetic and ecological research with real-world implementation in law and policy, particularly with respect to environmental monitoring, resource management, endangered species, and ocean acidification.. Kelly received his Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Columbia University, and his JD from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

 

Terrie Klinger, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Terrie Klinger is Co-Director of the Washington Ocean Acidification Center. She is a marine ecologist focused on applying ecological theory to practical management solutions. She studies ecosystem-based approaches to managing natural resources in the ocean, the ecological effects of environmental stressors, such as ocean acidification and habitat loss, and how rocky intertidal communities respond to and recover from disturbance. The Pacific Northwest is her primary study area, including the Puget Sound, the San Juan Archipelago, and the outer coast of Washington, and she maintains a time-series of ecological data at a site in the Gulf of Alaska. She was the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation IGERT award– shorthand for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship – focusing on how oceans are changing worldwide and what that means to the human communities connected to them.

 

Yoshitaka Ota, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Director, Ocean Nexus

Yoshi has a background in social anthropology at the University College London. He has conducted ethnographic research on various coastal communities, including Palau, UK, Indonesia and Japan, studying the socialization and cultural meanings associated with fishing practices. From 2010-2019, he led an international marine research program, NF-UBC Nereus Program, organizing the interdisciplinary collaboration of 15 institutes with over 200 publications and 30 postdoc fellows.

 

Visit https://www.washington.edu/

Quentin Hanich, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security

Quentin Hanich leads the Fisheries Governance Research Program at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, where he is a Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Chair. A/Prof Hanich has worked widely throughout the Asia Pacific region in various international research partnerships focusing on ocean governance and emerging technologies, marine conservation, fisheries management and development. He has chaired international working groups at treaty meetings, facilitated inter-governmental workshops, and advised Ministerial meetings and national delegations. In addition to his roles at the University of Wollongong, A/Prof. Hanich is the Editor-in-Chief of the highly ranked Elsevier journal Marine Policy, a Principal Investigator in the Nippon Foundation funded Ocean Nexus Program, a research partner with the Japanese Fisheries Research and Education Agency and Global Fishing Watch, and an Adjunct Scholar at Dalhousie University. He also lectures and writes on oceans governance, international fisheries, marine conservation, and fisheries development in the Asia Pacific region.

Visit https://www.uow.edu.au/

Annet Pauwelussen, Environmental Policy Group

Annet Pauwelussen is assistant professor with the Environmental Policy group of Wageningen University. Her research weaves together critical social theory with ethnography of human-ocean relations and conservation practices, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia. Here, she has conducted long-term fieldwork among fishing communities, conservationists and migratory sea people, to study social complexity and contestation in marine conservation programs. More broadly, she is interested in conservation approaches and methodologies that are responsive to diversity; making room for relational thinking, indigenous ecologies, multispecies ethics and dialogue across epistemological and ontological difference. After her PhD ‘Amphibious Anthropology’, Pauwelussen has lectured in environmental anthropology at Leiden University, and worked as a postdoc researcher in Wageningen (Environmental Policy Group) on exclusion/inclusion of small-scale shrimp farmers in Vietnam in sustainable aquaculture standards. In Ocean Nexus, she leads the project ‘Gendered Inequities in Ocean Restoration’. This project focuses on 1) reviewing feminist theory in marine social science, and 2) investigating structural power asymmetries in the rehabilitation and eco-engineering of marine and coastal nature.

Visit https://www.wur.nl/en.htm

Eddie Allison

Director of Science, Ocean Nexus

Eddie Allison received his PhD in Fisheries Science from the University of Liverpool, UK, working with the Isle of Man’s scallop fishing fleet. After graduating, he worked for the UK Department for International Development in Malawi for four years. For most of his career since, he has combined university-based teaching and research with secondments and consultancies to various international organizations, including the Global Environmental Facility International Waters program in Lake Tanganyika in the late 1990s, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, where he worked on the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Program in West and Central Africa in the early 2000s. His research centers on the human connection to natural resources. His primary areas of focus are 1) the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food and nutrition security and coastal livelihoods, 2) governance of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture production and the human rights of fishers, and 3) the vulnerability and adaptation to climate change of people dependent on marine and freshwater resources. His work spans the globe, having held positions in the field of fisheries and aquaculture management and development in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America and Europe, as researcher or technical and policy advisor for various international organizations.

Visit https://www.worldfishcenter.org/