ADVANCE Fellows: Marine-Protected Areas, Geographic Information Science, and Civil Society

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

This ADVANCE Fellows project examines the convergence of two relatively new and increasingly popular trends in state-led environmental resource management: marine protected areas (MPAs) and Geographic Information Science (GIS). It is argued that the combination of state-mandated MPAs and GIS has fostered political struggles and organized resistance among stakeholders (including fishers, environmentalists, and the state) unlike any previous marine resource regulations. While there has been a recent explosion of natural science publications on various dimensions of MPAs, studies on the social dimensions of MPAs are lacking. This project addresses these issues in a comparative study of two recently designed MPAs in the lagoon of Moorea, French Polynesia, and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, California. This comparison is useful because the processes of designation MPAs in each locale were strikingly similar, yet there are differences between the "First" and "Third Worlds," and different scales which will afford compelling analyses. The current conjuncture of the rising popularity of MPAs and the growing adoption of state-based GIS decision-making and management makes this research timely and precedent-setting. This award is supported through the NSF ADVANCE Program. The overall mission of the ADVANCE Program is to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce through the increased representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers.