Dr Joshua Cinner grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. He completed a Master’s degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island in 2000, and received a PhD from James Cook University in 2006. His research focuses on using social science to improve coral reef management. The interest in this field began in 1996 while working as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Montego Bay Marine Park in Jamaica, where he witnessed first hand how conventional conservation strategies were failing because they did not understand or reflect the social, economic, and cultural needs of resource users.

He has since worked with various coastal peoples in the Pacific Islands, South East Asia, East Africa, and the Caribbean to better understand how socioeconomic factors influence the ways in which people use, perceive, and govern coral reefs.

Joshua's work draws together a wide range of social science disciplines (including human geography, common property, anthropology, and conservation policy) and He often works closely with ecologists on interdisciplinary research topics. Increasingly, his research is moving beyond the case study approach toward a ‘big picture’ comparative exploration of human-environment interactions.

Interests

Research

• small-scale fisheries, social-ecological systems, co-management, vulnerability

Research Disciplines

• Environmental management (4104)
• Human geography (4406)

Awards

• 2017 - Elinor Ostrom Award

Fellowships

• 2015 - Pew Fellowship
• 2017 to 2020 - ARC Future Fellow
• 2011 to 2015 - ARC Australian Research Fellow
• 2007 to 2010 - ARC AUstralian Postdoctoral Fellow

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Cinner J, Barnes M, Gurney G, Lockie S and Rojas C (in press) Markets and the crowding out of conservation-relevant behavior. Conservation Biology, , DOI:10.1111/cobi.13606.
• Lau J, Sutcliffe S, Barnes M, Mbaru E, Muly I, Muthiga N, Wanyonyi S and Cinner J (2021) COVID-19 impacts on coastal communities in Kenya. Marine Policy, 134, Article: 104803, DOI:10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104803.
• Lau J, Gurney G and Cinner J (2021) Environmental justice in coastal systems: perspectives from communities confronting change. Global Environmental Change, 66, Article: 102208, DOI:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102208.
• Barnes M, Wang P, Cinner J, Graham N, Guerrero A, Jasny L, Lau J, Sutcliffe S and Zamborain-Mason J (2020) Social determinants of adaptive and transformative responses to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 10, pp. 823-828, DOI:10.1038/s41558-020-0871-4.
• Cruz-Motta J, Wantiez L, Edgar G, Stuart-smith R, Sandin S, Green A, Beger M, Friedlander A, Wilson S, Brooks A, Vigliola L, Booth D, Chabanet P, Tupper M, Ferse S, Sumaila U, Hardt M, Mouillot D, brokovich E, Gurney G, Kulbicki M, Zamborain Mason J, Graham N, MacNeil M, Hoey A, Mora C, Villéger S, Maire E, Feary D, Maina J, Kittinger J, Hicks C, D'agata S, Huchery C, Barnes M, Cinner J, Williams I and McClanahan T (2020) Meeting fisheries, ecosystem function, and biodiversity goals in a human-dominated world. Science, 368 (6488), pp. 307-311, DOI:10.1126/science.aax9412.
• Lau J, Cinner J, Fabinyi M, Gurney G and Hicks C (2020) Access to marine ecosystem services: examining entanglement and legitimacy in customary institutions. World Development, 126, Article: 104730, DOI:10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104730.
• McCombs E, McLean D, Marshall A, Newman S, Manjaji-Matsumoto B, Matich P, Meggs L, Moore S, Mukherji S, Kaimuddin M, Nogués J, Maggs J, Jupiter S, Murray R, Kiilu B, Heck S, Henderson A, Hertler H, Hueter R, Johnson M, Samoilys M, Kessel S, Obota C, Luna-Acosta A, Kirata T, Kuguru B, Kyne F, Langlois T, Lédée E, Lindfield S, Kasana D, Sparks L, Heithaus M, Zarza-Gonzâlez E, Wothke A, Wirsing A, Whitman E, Hardenstine R, Wen C, Cinner J, Watts A, Ward J, Vigliola L, van Zinnicq Bergmann M, Travers M, Ruiz-Abierno A, Quinlan J, Osuka K, Papastamatiou Y, Perera N, Peterson B, Ponzo A, Torres R, Quamar L, Tanna A, Sala E, Schärer-Umpierre M, Schlaff A, Simpson N, Smith A, O'Shea O, Prasetyo A, Udyawer V, Bierwagen S, Berumen M, Bernard A, Benjamin C, Beaufort O, Asher J, Harvey E, Pina-Amargós F, Ali K, Adam M, Gorham T, Valentin-Albanese J, Bonnema E, Flowers K, Barcia L, Rees M, Sherman C, Speed C, Currey-Randall L, Bond M, Kiszka J, Goetze J, Meekan M, Simpfendorfer C, Heupel M, Chapman D, MacNeil M, Guttridge T, Clementi G, Angulo-Valdés J, D'Alberto B, de Graaf M, Dornhege M, Estep A, Fanovich L, Cramp J, Fernando D, Farabough N, Floros C, Fourqurean V, Garla R, Gastrich K, George L, Graham R, Bown R, Cáceres C, Flam A, Cook N, Brooks E, Brown J, Burke P, Bradley D, Cardeñosa D, Carrier J, Caselle J, Charloo V, Claverie T, Clua E, Cochran J and Buddo D (2020) Global status and conservation potential of reef sharks. Nature, 583, pp. 801-803, DOI:10.1038/s41586-020-2519-y.
• Maire E, D'agata S, Aliaume C, Mouillot D, Darling E, Ramahery V, Ranaivoson R, Randriamanantsoa B, Tianarisoa T, Santisy A and Cinner J (2020) Disentangling the complex roles of markets on coral reefs in northwest Madagascar. Ecology and Society, 25 (3), Article: 23, DOI:10.5751/ES-11595-250323.
• Mbaru E, Graham N, McClanahan T and Cinner J (2020) Functional traits illuminate the selective impacts of different fishing gears on coral reefs. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57 (2), pp. 241-252, DOI:10.1111/1365-2664.13547.
• Rojas C and Cinner J (2020) Do market and trust contexts spillover into public goods contributions? Evidence from experimental games in Papua New Guinea. Ecological Economics, 174, Article: 106661, DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106661.
• Cinner J and Barnes M (2019) Social dimensions of resilience in social-ecological systems. One Earth, 1 (1), pp. 51-56, DOI:10.1016/j.oneear.2019.08.003.
• Cinner J, Lau J, Bauman A, Feary D, Januchowski-Hartley F, Rojas C, Barnes M, Bergseth B, Shum E, Lahari R, Ben J and Graham N (2019) Sixteen years of social and ecological dynamics reveal challenges and opportunities for adaptive management in sustaining the commons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116 (52), pp. 26474-26483, DOI:10.1073/pnas.1914812116.

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 160+ research outputs authored by Prof Joshua Cinner from 2004 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Human-derived drivers of change for coral reef ecosystems: comparing ecological outcomes using temporal and spatial data analyses (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Just Fisheries: Equity perceptions and their role in environmental management and conservation (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Macro and Micro Level Determinants of the Contribution of Fish to Nutritional Security (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Assessing the sustainability of multispecies coral reef fisheries around the globe (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Poaching in marine protected areas: drivers of and responses to illegal fishing (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• 'The reef is our garden' expanding analysis of ecosystem services in coastal communities (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Socio-ecological drivers of fish biomass on coral reefs: the importance of accessibility, protection and key species (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Investigating spatial aspects of the community-based management of a small-scale artisanal grouper fishery (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Diffusion of a gear-based conservation innovation: adoption patterns and social - ecological outcomes (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

• Rojas, C. (2020) Data for: Do market and trust contexts spillover into public goods contributions? Evidence from experimental games in Papua New Guinea. James Cook University
• Cinner, J. (2020) Data from: Meeting fisheries, ecosystem function, and biodiversity goals in a human dominated world. James Cook University
• Cinner, J. (2019) Data for: Sixteen years of social and ecological dynamics reveal challenges and opportunities for adaptive management in sustaining the commons. James Cook University
• Maire, E. (2019) Fish biomass and socio-economic data from small-scale reef fisheries in Northwest Madagascar. James Cook University
• Cinner, J. (2018) Recreational fishers' perceptions of poaching in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. James Cook University
• Waldie, P. (2017) Data from: Restricted grouper reproductive migrations support community-based management. James Cook University
• Cinner, J. (2017) Global gravity of coral reefs spatial layer. James Cook University
• Waldie, P. (2017) Investigating spatial aspects of the community-based management of a small-scale artisanal grouper fishery . James Cook University
• Robinson, J. (2016) Expert interview data for a risk assessment of spawning aggregation fisheries . James Cook University
• Robinson, J. (2016) Multi-species grouper spawning aggregation fishery study in Papua New Guinea. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.