Research Themes:
Marine Protected Areas
We conduct global syntheses that examine the ecological effects of MPAs and the range of factors that drive variation in outcomes. We also examine how marine aquaculture can be compatible with MPA goals.
Marine Aquaculture
We study marine aquaculture – farming seafood in the oceans – and sustainable seafood systems. We have research examining global patterns of development and the influence of policy on development in the U.S.
Tradeoff Analysis for Spatial Planning
We conduct research on spatial planning for multiple ocean uses, developing analytical methods to minimize tradeoffs across different management objectives.
Coupled Natural - Human Systems
We study connections and feedbacks between social and ecological systems, including in coral reef and seagrass systems.
Fishery Assessment and Sustainability
We do research on fishery monitoring, assessment and sustainability, focused on data-limited and low-capacity contexts, working with the Blue Prosperity Coalition led by the Waitt Foundation and Waitt Institute.
Marine Biogeography
We are interested in the factors and processes influencing the distributions of marine species, how those distributions will be impacted by climate change, and large-scale spatial variation in ecosystem services.
Current and Recently Completed Projects:
Tools to Assess and Response to Climate Impacts on Bonaire National Marine Park (Funded be Pew Charitable Trust’s Lenfest Ocean Program)
A multidisciplinary analysis of the spatial patterns of marine aquaculture development (Funded by the NSF GSS program).
Assessing policy barriers for mariculture in the United States while accounting for fisheries context (Collaboration with Froehlich Lab-UCSB; Funded by NOAA Sea Grant).
Multiscale dynamics of coral reef fisheries: feedbacks between fishing practices, livelihood strategies, and shifting dominance of coral and algae (Collaboration with Rassweiler Lab-FSU, UC Santa Barbara, and San Diego State University; Funded by the NSF CNH program).
Developing an integrated monitoring and assessment framework for evaluating ecosystem service outcomes from seagrass restoration in the Gulf of Mexico (Collaboration with Rassweiler Lab-FSU; Funded by the NASEM Gulf Research Program).
Blue Prosperity Coalition (Collaboration with EmLab-UCSB and the Waitt Institute; Funded by the Waitt Foundation).
