Through immersive and place-based programs, SFS students gain interdisciplinary exposure to these diverse perspectives, compare written policy with actual implementation, and come to understand how national or international policies are translated at the local level.
Cambodia’s environmental policy is still largely being developed, and must take into consideration both environmental management and cultural heritage. Students examine the ethics surrounding public policy, environmental laws, Indigenous sovereignty and access to resources, and local attitudes toward the environment and human development of the natural world.
Students evaluate environmental policy through the lens of local stakeholders and policymakers. Students use a range of social science research methods to understand the positive and negative effects of policy to promote more sustainable forms of social and economic development.
Students examine how environmental policy, particularly in the Amazon, is shaped by political ecology, and learn about the political, economic, and social factors of environmental issues and changes. We also consider how environmental policy is shaped by the theories and ethics of sustainable and unsustainable development, and the need to view these issues in ways that are inclusive and just.
Students learn how proper environmental policy of wildlife management considers socioeconomic realities, hierarchies, power structures, formal and informal decision-making processes, drivers and implications of demographic change, and land reform. Students are introduced to major constituencies that affect conservation policies, such as NGOs and economic interests and examine their underlying philosophies. We also examine the role of policy for successful natural resource conservation
We study the perspectives of fishers, tourism workers, and other stakeholders and consider how environmental policy can help avoid conflicts in future marine planning. Students explore how a diversity of actors can help inform marine policy that is more sustainable from both ecological and socioeconomic perspectives. We examine the impacts of environmental policies on the global, regional, and local scale to better understand the implications of such policies on vulnerable coastal communities. Our research in lobster, conch, and finfish stock assessments provides important information for government agencies to use in establishing policy that promotes sustainable fishing rules and guidelines.