Diverse Sources of Knowledge in Environmental Governance |
The overall thesis of my research program is that self-mobilized community participation in science driven by local curiosity has unrealized power to advance scientific literacy and long-term environmental stewardship. By engaging with local and Indigenous communities and honoring their local, specialist expertise of the environment, we as an academic community can produce more robust, complete, and dynamic scientific understandings of the ocean across scales. In doing so, we can also inform more effective, just, and equitable governance outcomes, pushing against the long-standing colonialism of ocean governance. My work seeks to inform sustainable, long-lasting scientific literacy and engagement by supporting curiosity-driven science to solve locally relevant scientific challenges.
Selected work includes: O’Connor, R., Spalding, A.K., Bowers, A.W., & Ardoin, N.M. (2024). Power and participation: A systematic review of marine protected area engagement through participatory science methods. Marine Policy, 163(2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106133 O’Connor, R., et al. (2025). Effects of anthropogenic noise on marine mammal abundances informed by mixed methods. Npj Ocean Sustainability, 4(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00113-w O’Connor, R.J., et al. (2025) Community scientists provide knowledge and public education and help enforce environmental regulations in social-ecological systems. Commun Earth Environ 6, 91 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02066-x Ardoin, N., O’Connor, R., & Bowers, A. (2025). 9. Exploring how place connections support sustainability solutions in marine socio-ecological systems. In L. B. Crowder (Ed.), Navigating Our Way to Solutions in Marine Conservation (1st ed., pp. 143–154). Open Book Publishers. https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0395.09 Satterthwaite, E...O’Connor, R....ET AL. (2024). Centering Knowledge Co-Production in Sustainability Science: Why, How, and When. Oceanography, 37(1), 26–37. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.217 O’Connor, R. (In prep, 2025). A Theory of Place-Connections, Participation in Scientific Learning, and Remade Places. In prep for Nature Sustainability. |
Ocean Conservation Biology |
The foundation of my work is the pursuit of a sustainable ocean systems by applying foundational conservation biology theory to urban-ocean interfaces. As Soulé, a key founder of the discipline of conservation biology, stated; “its goal is to provide principles and tools for preserving biological diversity” (Soulé, 1985, p. 727). This goal is commonly thought to apply to remote places far from – though not immune to – the footprint of human influence. As urban-ocean interfaces become an increasingly influential part of the global ocean system, conservation biology must be applied in nuanced ways. The expansion of the urban-ocean interface changes the environment in which marine plants and animals have evolved and increases the amount of interaction between humans and the ecosystems of that interface. In my work, I use innovative mixed methods approaches to bring social science into conservation biology conversations, seeking holistic and nuances solutions to complex and dynamic sustainability challenges.
Selected work includes: O’Connor, R., Spalding, A.K., Bowers, A.W., & Ardoin, N.M. 2024. Power and participation: A systematic review of marine protected area engagement through participatory science methods. Marine Policy, 163(2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106133 O’Connor, R.J., et al. (2025) Community scientists provide knowledge and public education and help enforce environmental regulations in social-ecological systems. Commun Earth Environ 6, 91 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02066-x O’Connor, R., et al. (2025). Effects of anthropogenic noise on marine mammal abundances informed by mixed methods. Npj Ocean Sustainability, 4(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00113-w Goodman, M... O’Connor, R....et al. (2024). Reef shark population declines on remote Pacific reefs: Inferences from multiple methods in a data-limited fishery. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 751, 97–114. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14746 Villaseñor-Derbez, J.... O’Connor, R… et al. (Accepted). Transferability of Adaptive Capacity to Diverse Market and Environmental Shocks in Small-Scale Fisheries: COVID-19 as a case study. Accepted at NPJ Ocean Sustainability. Villaseñor-Derbez, J.... O’Connor, R… ET AL. (In Review, 2024). Transferability of Adaptive Capacity to Diverse Market and Environmental Shocks in Small-Scale Fisheries: COVID-19 as a case study. In Review at Fish and Fisheries. |
Human-Nature Interaction |
As we expand and intensify urban-ocean interfaces around the world, the environment in which marine plants and animals have evolved changes and the amount of interaction between humans and the ocean increases. This changes the lives of both human communities and natural ecosystems across all scales in ways we are just beginning to understand. To achieve sustainable, just, and equitable relationships between humans and their natural environments, we much intentionally examine these interactions through a variety of lenses. My work seeks to honor and incorporate multiple ways of knowing, diversifying my research through the inclusion of local, traditional, and Indigenous ecological knowledge, giving voice to all environmental knowledge and expertise. I use a variety of methods and methodologies, including qualitative and interpretive analysis and statistical modeling to create holistic understandings of the systems in which I work.
Selected work includes: O’Connor, R., Spalding, A.K., Bowers, A.W., & Ardoin, N.M. 2024. Power and participation: A systematic review of marine protected area engagement through participatory science methods. Marine Policy, 163(2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106133 O’Connor, R.J., et al. (2025) Community scientists provide knowledge and public education and help enforce environmental regulations in social-ecological systems. Commun Earth Environ 6, 91 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02066-x O’Connor, R., et al. (2025). Effects of anthropogenic noise on marine mammal abundances informed by mixed methods. Npj Ocean Sustainability, 4(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00113-w Satterthwaite, E...O’Connor, R....et al. (2024). Centering Knowledge Co-Production in Sustainability Science: Why, How, and When. Oceanography, 37(1), 26–37. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.217 Garibay-Toussaint, I ...O’Connor, R.....et al. (2024) Combining the uncombinable: corporate memories, ethnobiological observations, oceanographic and ecological data to enhance climatic resilience in small-scale fisheries. Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1458059. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059 Ardoin, N., O’Connor, R., & Bowers, A. (2025). 9. Exploring how place connections support sustainability solutions in marine socio-ecological systems. In L. B. Crowder (Ed.), Navigating Our Way to Solutions in Marine Conservation (1st ed., pp. 143–154). Open Book Publishers. https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0395.09 |
