| Title | Exploring how place connections support sustainability solutions in marine socio-ecological systems |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Nicole Ardoin(author) |
| Ryan O’Connor(author) | |
| Alison Bowers (author) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0395.09 |
| Landing page | https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0395/chapters/10.11647/obp.0395.09 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Nicole M. Ardoin; Ryan J. O’Connor; Alison W. Bowers; |
| Publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| Published on | 2025-01-30 |
| Long abstract | Nicole M. Ardoin, Ryan J. O’Connor, and Alison W. Bowers. In the social sciences, the concept of “place” plays a large role in how humans relate to their environment. History and culture, as well as nuances of human behavior, often revolve around a person’s sense of place and belonging. Rather than assuming people are separate from nature, as is common in western science, this approach views people as fully engaged in nature. By probing these connections between people and place, one can foster the engagement of individuals and their communities in characterizing problems and in framing pathways to solutions that can promote sustainability in marine socio-ecological systems. Deep scholarship and well-developed case studies, presented here, support this emerging thinking. |
| Page range | pp. 143–154 |
| Print length | 12 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
Founder of the Stanford Social Ecology Lab, Prof. Ardoin is an interdisciplinary social scientist who researches individual and collective environmental behavior as influenced by environmental learning and motivated by place-based connections. Prof. Ardoin and her lab’s studies center social-ecological systems, sustainability science, and collective action theories, often with a focus on coastal and marine environments, as well as parks and protected areas. Interested in actionable knowledge and notions of co-production, Prof. Ardoin and her group study the design, implementation, and effectiveness of a range of social-ecological practices and conservation interventions. Prof. Ardoin often collaborates with community partners, including public, private, and social sector organizations at a range of scales, to co-design and implement studies that build on a theoretical frame while concurrently addressing questions of practice.
Ryan O’Connor is an Ocean Social Ecologist and current PhD Candidate in the Oceans Department and the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program for the Environment and Resources (E-IPER) at Stanford University. Ryan’s research is based in Pacific Grove, CA and Baja California, Mexico, and focuses broadly on understanding how human societies interact with their local marine environments. His research employs an innovative blend of quantitative ecology and qualitative social science methods to elevate and highlight community voices and local ecological knowledge in ocean conservation. By understanding how a person's relationship to the ocean, personal history with nature, and social context shape individual perceptions of the marine environment, Ryan seeks to inform the co-production of sustainable ocean management programs. Ryan also teaches courses on human-ocean interaction, the history of the oceans, and ocean governance at Stanford and has supervised undergraduates on projects ranging from computer vision machine learning models for marine mammal monitoring to expert interviews of marine protected area officials.
Alison Bowers currently works as a researcher in the Social Ecology Lab at Stanford University. Trained as a research methodologist, she holds a PhD in Educational Research and Evaluation from Virginia Tech. Her background and experience include working as a field-based environmental educator with the Cooperative Extension Service and at the national-scale with nonprofit conservation and education organizations. Alison has an EdS in Early Childhood Special Education from George Washington University, a Masters in Forest Resources & Conservation from the University of Florida, and a BA in Psychology from the University of South Carolina. Her research focus is on research design and process and she is particularly interested in research reviews and environmental collective action. To learn more about her work in the Social Ecology lab, please visit the lab’s website: https://socialecology.stanford.edu/