Julia
Postdoctoral Scholar
School of Public Policy
Pacific Marine Energy Center
Oregon State University
I am an interdisciplinary social scientist interested in developing strategies to support environmental health and human well-being. I study the intersections of social, ecological, and political dimensions of fisheries and coastal management. I believe sustainable and healthy futures for coastal communities require environmentally and socially just management and governance developed through interdisciplinary, place-based, community-informed research and collective action. In my current work as a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University, I am part of a large team of researchers across multiple institutions focusing on community benefits and impacts of offshore wind development on the west coast of the US and the Gulf of Maine.
Click here for more information about my current research and other projects.
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Background
I aim to develop environmentally sustainable and socially just coastal management through reflexive, relational, community driven research. I came to the social sciences from an initial background in marine biology and intertidal ecology. Through working with community partners in my research and engaging in intersectional environmental justice organizing, I became interested in more community and politically focused areas of research, prompting my transition in disciplines. I received my PhD in Marine Science and Conservation from Duke University in 2023 under the mentorship of Dr. Grant Murray. My dissertation research focused on knowledge and power in the governance of salmon and Nuu-chah-nulth rights - based fisheries
on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I conducted the research with the permission, partnership, and guidance of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and Ha'oom Fishing Society, with intent to support five Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations' path towards self determination through agency in fisheries governance.
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I became involved in research on the social and ecological dimension of offshore wind as a postdoctoral researcher at the URI Coastal Resources Center. I worked in partnership with the NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) to develop indicators for an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment regarding interactions between fisheries and offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. I was also a part of the RI Sea Grant Offshore Wind extension team.
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I completed my undergraduate studies at Oregon State University, focusing on intertidal ecology and international studies. As a member of the OSU Novak Lab at the time, my undergraduate thesis led to a collaborative project between multiple stakeholders on the Oregon coast to inform a community supported fishery. I also co-lead the OSU Divest student campaign demanding OSU remove their investments in fossil fuels and redistribute those funds in portfolios supporting environmental and social justice initiatives and renewable energy technology. OSU Divest was ultimately successful in its mission.
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Fostering healthy relationships with the natural world is core to my life beyond academia and activism. I grew up privileged to always live nearby to water, mountains, and forests, and to always have family and mentors who valued enjoying and caring for these spaces. I am an avid runner, gardener, hiker, backpacker, and camper and I am lucky to have access to these ways of connecting with the world around me. In my work, I am motivated by a desire to shift our society's relationships to the environment from extractive practices to more sustainable relationships built upon care and reciprocity. I maintain hope through a vision of a more environmentally and socially just future for all people, and through the knowledge that this vision is shared by so many who are working to build that future.
