Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intersections of worldviews in the co-management of environmental resources

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Millions of people worldwide are dependent on biodiverse marine habitats. These important habitats are subject to a variety of stresses and are thus experiencing severe degradation. How should they be managed? What frameworks are most effective in managing their use and in their conservation? This doctoral dissertation research examines the political dynamics of collaborative co-management of natural resources and the intersections of indigenous and other frameworks in driving management strategies. The research tests theories in cultural anthropology to understand how different relationships with the environment are expressed and resolved in dynamic ecological settings. It trains a doctoral dissertation student in theory and methods in scientific cultural anthropology and the work will be disseminated broadly to academic and non-academic audiences. This research pursues three objectives: 1) to compare understandings of human-environment relationality among indigenous and non-indigenous conservationists; 2) to examine how different understandings of relationality are incorporated into co-management policy and practice; and 3) to examine associated political dynamics. It uses ethnographic methods, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and social-ecological network analysis. The work develops a new analytical framework for incorporating different worldviews into the analysis of human-environment relationships. The work also contributes to our knowledge of how different perspectives and objectives are prioritized in co-management arrangements, ultimately informing the development of policy that engages local communities in sustainable resource management.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.