My why: I started this blog as a non-academic outlet to write about my interests in the marine world. I wanted to share stories from my research in a (hopefully) more creative and compelling way that will entice readers who don’t want to scroll through lengthy academic journals. My writing takes a broad lens of ‘marine social science‘ to share why people matter in the story of marine conservation and to perhaps encourage you to think a little differently about how we can protect our oceans.

A journey into the social sciences: When I started my undergraduate degree in marine biology at age 18, I had a very ‘environment first, everything else after‘ stance. It wasn’t until my master’s degree, on a module looking at coupled human-natural systems, that I began to understand the role of people in nature conservation. While I still believe that protecting our natural world is absolutely imperative, it is just as important to understand how people, particularly those at the interface between nature and policy, can affect and are affected by the decisions we make for environmental outcomes. Too often decisions are pushed through by top-down control, focused on narrow biological measures that fail to integrate human dimensions of policy. This type of decision-making happens across the globe and can negatively impact already vulnerable and marginalised communities. Instead, working with communities, incorporating local ecological knowledge and participatory management are some examples of more just and ethical approaches that should be prioritised to ensure ocean health and human health. I hope to share stories, successes, and lessons learned from this type of approach to nature conservation.

My academic background: Marine Biology BSc (Hons), Marine Ecosystems and Governance (MRes), Currently: PhD Human Geography, focused on marine social science.

I now live in Cornwall where, between chasing after my border-collie and learning to surf, my PhD involves quantitative and qualitative research with coastal communities to understand how changes in fisheries policies affect human health and wellbeing.

Frank, the collie.