Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2021-2022

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources

Research Summary: Philanthropic foundations are influential actors in ocean conservation as funders of various projects, networks and policies around the world and have the potential to create and drive sustainability. Yet there has been little academic research on ocean philanthropy, its practices and its impacts on coastal communities, organizations, and conservation agendas. My doctoral research focuses on understanding these practices and impacts in the context of philanthropic exits using the lens of small-scale fisheries. To that end, I use participatory research methods to integrate the perspectives of donors, grantees and coastal communities and shed light on the legacies of ocean philanthropy.