Dr. D.G. Webster

Dr. Webster’s main research interest is in understanding feedbacks within global scale social-ecological systems (SESs). She is author of two books. The second, Beyond the Tragedy in Global Fisheries (in press), explains the evolution of global fisheries governance through a responsive governance lens, showing how fisheries all over the world cycle through periods of effective and ineffective governance in what she calls the management treadmill. Her first book, Adaptive Governance: The Dynamics of Atlantic Tuna Management (2009 MIT Press) posited and tested her vulnerability response framework. It won the International Studies Association’s Harold and Margaret Sprout Award in 2010. She is currently exploring new methods for exploring SESs as the lead PI on a multi-institutional project called Fishscape: Modeling the Complex Dynamics of the Fishery for Tropical Tunas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which is funded through NSF’s Coupled Natural and Human Systems program, and an internally funded project that uses agent based modeling to better understand the relationship between Consumer Choice and Sustainability. Dr. Webster teaches courses related to global environmental governance, green business, marine policy, and environmental economics. She earned her PhD from the University of Southern California’s Political Economy and Public Policy program in 2005.