Research

My research is interdisciplinary, focused on the intersection of human geography, conservation science, environmental politics, and gender studies. It broadly explores how different natural resource governance strategies influence conflict arising at the interface of extractive industry and biodiversity conservation.  I am especially interested in how the benefits and burdens of these conflicts are spread across different sectors of society in relation to gender, race, class, and nationality.

My most recent work has focused on marine fisheries management in Madagascar, specifically looking at how access to and control over marine resources is constructed and contested in various locales extending from coastal villages to international policy arenas.  By examining state-managed, co-managed and community-managed conservation projects, my research investigates how different configurations of authority (the capacity of politico-legal institutions to influence other social actors) transform people’s understanding of and claims to natural resources.