To increase the impact of my work, I communicate in a variety of formats, publish reports and policy briefs, and conduct outreach to the public, media and policy-makers.

Public and Conference Presentations

Every year, I give a number of public presentations or lectures on topics related to the human dimensions of conservation, development, marine policy, or environmental change. In addition, I have organized sessions and given more than 60 presentations at national and international academic and environmental policy focused conferences. A few highlights include presentations at the Communities, Conservation and Livelihoods Conference in 2018, the International Congress for Conservation Biology in 2017, the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2016, the International Marine Conservation Congress in 2016, and several conferences of the Canadian and American Association of Geographers.

Policy Engagements

My policy engagements include outreach to conservation organizations, national governments and via my role as the Chair of the People and the Ocean Specialist Group for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. My outreach efforts include direct engagement with policy makers, outreach through practitioner networks, and publication of policy briefs and reports. A few examples include: 

• Featured on IUCN Website (May 2020) – Mobilizing in support of small-scale fisheries impacted by COVID-19
• Featured on IUCN Website (Oct 2019) – Charting a course to sustainability and equity in the blue economy 
• Policy Brief (May 2019) – Marine social science and ocean sustainability
• Policy Brief (Nov 2017) – Maintaining coastal and Indigenous community access to marine resources and the ocean in Canada
• Policy Brief (Oct 2017) –  Managing the social impacts of conservation
• Featured in MEAM (Oct 2017) – New ideas on how the social sciences could change the way we do ocean conservation and management
• Featured in MPA News (Oct 2017) – Global targets call for effective MPAs. But how do we best achieve effectiveness? Practitioners respond
• Policy Brief (Oct 2016) – Making Real Progress on Marine Protected Areas in Canada

Media Outreach and Uptake

Reaching out to the media helps to communicate the insights and implications of my research to the broader public. To do so, I work with communications professionals at my institutions to prepare press releases, reach out to journalists, or write editorials in papers. A few examples of each related to my work follow below:

• Q&A via Phys.org (May 2020) – How small-scale fishers are struggling amid COVID-19 crisis
• Press release from University of British Columbia (Oct 2019) – Achieving a safe and just future for the ocean economy
• Editorial in Policy Options (2018) – Bill C-68 enshrines human dimensions in Canadian fisheries law
• Feature in Yale 360 (2017) – A Call for a Hippocratic Oath on Protecting the World’s Oceans
• News article in CBC (2017) – Does marine conservation need a “Hippocratic Oath”?
• Editorial in the Guardian (June 2017, The Guardian) – Ocean conservation needs a Hippocratic oath – we must do no harm
• News release via Eureka Alert (2017) – Scientists launch global agenda to curb social, human rights abuses in seafood sector
• News article on Yahoo News (2017) – Hong Kong’s craze for sea cucumbers is demolishing populations as far away as Mexico

Videos of Presentations