I study the human dimensions of ocean and coastal management using interdisciplinary methods, including community-based research. My goal is to engage students and communities in understanding and sustainably managing their coastal resources.

I spent most of my life in, on, or under the water, beginning with childhood in San Diego, CA. My connection with the ocean inspired my early-career education in marine biology at UCLA and graduate studies in oceanography at the University of Hawai‘i, as well as research experiences in California, Hawaii, Central America, the Galapagos, the Caribbean, and Antarctica. This work generally focused on how we measure environmental health, but underscored issues in resource management that are at the heart of environmental challenges.

With this in mind, I moved to Washington, DC as a Knauss Fellow to work on environmental policy in the US Congress and to witness firsthand when and how science, politics, and people affect policy and management processes. Returning to academia for my doctorate in Stanford University's Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, I have since examined relationships between coastal resources and coastal communities in the context of resource management in a changing environment—a field I define as "Coastography."

I came to CSU Channel Islands in 2017 and focus my scholarship on coastal access and surfing resources; my teaching centers on hands-on, engaged learning, especially through CSUCI's research station on Santa Rosa Island in Channel Islands National Park.

I enjoy exploring California's coast and islands with my wife and our two boys.

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