When Conservation Policies Unintentionally Thwart Ocean Sustainability

Description

Join David Guggenheim, program coordinator and lecturer for the MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy and MS in Energy Policy and Climate programs, as he hosts Johns Hopkins lecturer Staci Lewis for a discussion on the importance of understanding the environmental and socioeconomic effects created by conservation policies to predict and avoid unintended consequences. Lewis will reference a case study from the Republic of Palau, an archipelago in the Western Pacific, that in 2020 implemented two conservation policies—the establishment of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary and the banning of the export of reef fish—and dealt with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. She will examine the disruptions and interplay of these policies as a way to offer reflections on the design and implementation of conservation politics that best support ocean sustainability and resilience.

Staci Lewis teaches the Ocean Stewardship and Sustainability and Science Communications and Policy Engagement courses at Johns Hopkins. She is also the marine protected area network manager at California's Ocean Protection Council (OPC). To these two positions, Lewis brings 20 years of experience in ocean policy, coral reef ecology, marine protected areas, and human dimensions of ocean sustainability. She comes to the OPC from the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions where she led projects on the socioeconomics of large-scale marine protected areas and digital platforms that empower small-scale fishers. Prior to her Stanford tenure, she spent nearly a decade in Washington, DC, working in various ocean policy positions, including for two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrators and as the senior policy manager for the Consortium for Ocean Leadership advocating for federal science policies and investments. Lewis received her doctorate from Stanford University's Emmett Interdisciplinary Program for Environment and Resources and a master's in environmental science and public policy from George Mason University.

The Sustainable Solutions Series

The Sustainable Solutions Speaker Series is presented by the Environmental Sciences and Policy and the Energy Policy and Climate programs at Johns Hopkins University. Each talk features scholars and practitioners working to tackle "wicked" environmental, energy, and climate problems. Speakers take us through how they leverage technology, policy, the private sector, markets, research, and field work to form innovative and lasting solutions. From water insecurity to climate adaptation, natural resource conflict to energy transitions, and food insecurity to sustainable agriculture, this series features the depth and breadth of Johns Hopkins University faculty and our greater community as we work toward a sustainable future.