Dr Michele Barnes ~ Research Fellow - People and Ecosystems

Michele grew up poking around tide pools on the California coast. She completed her PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management and a graduate certificate program in Ocean Policy at the University of Hawaii in 2015. Her dissertation work investigated the effect of resource user’s social networks and social capital on ecological and economic outcomes, and their implications for sustainable resource management in the largest commercial fishery in the Hawaiian Islands.

Michele previously worked as a research specialist in the Socioeconomics and Planning Group at NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, and held adjunct appointments at Hawaii Pacific University and the University of Hawaii, where she taught an upper division course on the human dimensions of marine and coastal systems. After graduating with her PhD, Michele was awarded a prestiguous U.S. National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to study social-ecological interactions in coral reef ecosystems. During this time she joined the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies as a visiting scholar, where she now holds a Research Fellowship position in the People and Ecosystems Program. 

Michele's research draws on sociology, psychology, economics, and social-ecological systems theory to understand human behavior and group dynamics in environmental systems, and how they relate to the sustainable use and governance of environmental resources. Her work is highly interdisciplinary and has an applied quantitative focus. Current projects span the developing-developed world divide, with field sites in coastal Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Hawaii, and themes include:

• Social networks, social capital, and environmental outcomes
• Social-ecological networks to capture complex relationships between people and ecosystems
• Adaptation, transformation, and social-ecological resilience
• Inequality, power, and sociocultural diversity in coastal communities

 

Interests

Professional

• marine policy

Research

• social networks
• social-ecological systems
• fisheries
• socio-cultural diversity
• social capital
• equity
• shark ecotourism
• marine policy
• economic valuation
• fisheries sustainability

Teaching

• environmental social science
• environmental economics
• human dimensions of environmental systems

Experience

• 2017 to present - Social Science Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2015 to 2017 - Visiting Scholar & Adjunct, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University (Townsville, Australia)
• 2015 to 2017 - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dept. of Botany, University of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI, USA)
• 2015 - Research Specialist, NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (Honolulu, HI, USA)
• 2012 to 2015 - Graduate Researcher, NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (Honolulu, HI, USA)
• 2012 to 2015 - Research Associate, Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI, USA)
• 2011 to 2012 - Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI, USA)

Research Disciplines

• Environmental Science and Management (0502)
• Applied Economics (1402)
• Sociology (1608)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Ecosystem Assessment and Management (9605)
• Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation (9606)
• Cultural Understanding (9599)

Awards

• 2015 - Ph.D. Student Oral Presentation Award, University of Hawaii
• 2014 - University of Hawaii Graduate Student Organization Travel Grant
• 2014 - U.S. National Science Foundation Marine Research Network Travel Grant
• 2014 - Ph.D. Oral Presentation Award, University of Hawaii
• 2014 - Achievement Scholarship, Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii
• 2012 - M.S. Student Oral Presentation Award, University of Hawaii

Fellowships

• 2015 to 2017 - U.S. National Science Foundation Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
• 2011 to 2012 - Sachiyuki Masumoto Scholarship, University of Hawaii

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

• Barnes M, Lynham J, Kalberg K and Leung P (2016) Social networks and environmental outcomes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113 (23). pp. 6466-6471
• Barnes M, Kalberg K, Pan M and Leung P (2016) When is brokerage negatively associated with economic benefits? Ethnic diversity, competition, and common-pool resources. Social Networks, 45. pp. 55-65
• Grafeld S, Oleson K, Barnes M, Peng M, Chan C and Weijerman M (2016) Divers' willingness to pay for improved coral reef conditions in Guam: an untapped source of funding for management and conservation? Ecological Economics, 128. pp. 202-213
• Barnes-Mauthe M, Oleson K, Brander L, Zafindrasilivonona B, Oliver T and van Beukering P (2015) Social capital as an ecosystem service: evidence from a locally managed marine area. Ecosystem Services, 16. pp. 283-293
• Barnes-Mauthe M, Gray S, Arita S, Lynham J and Leung P (2015) What determines social capital in a social-ecological system? Insights from a network perspective. Environmental Management, 55 (2). pp. 392-410
• Gelsani C, Loke M, Barnes-Mauthe M and Leung P (2015) Seafood purchasing preferences of Hawaii chefs: comparing actual purchase to stated preferences from conjoint choice experiment. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 27 (1). pp. 50-63
• Lewison R, Hobday A, Maxwell S, Hazen E, Hartog J, Dunn D, Briscoe D, Fossette S, O'Keefe C, Barnes M, Abecassis M, Bograd S, Benthony N, Bailey H, Wiley D, Andrews S, Hazen L and Crowder L (2015) Dynamic ocean management: identifying the critical ingredients of dynamic approaches to ocean resource management. BioScience, 65 (5). pp. 486-498
• Oleson K, Barnes M, Brander L, Oliver T, van Beek I, Zafindrasilivonona B and van Beukering P (2015) Cultural bequest values for ecosystem service flows among indigenous fishers: a discrete choice experiment validated with mixed methods. Ecological Economics, 114. pp. 104-116
• Cisneros-Montemayor A, Barnes-Mauthe M, Al-Abdulrazzak D, Navarro-Holm E and Samaila U (2013) Global economic value of shark ecotourism: implications for conservation. Oryx, 47 (3). pp. 381-388

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

• Diffusion of Gear-based Conservation Innovation in Coral Reef Fisheries (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

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.