Noella Gray

Broadly, I am interested in the politics of conservation and environmental governance – in how access to natural resources is defined, contested and legitimated by resource users, experts, civil society and the state. More specifically, I consider how science is incorporated into environmental policy, the politics of scale in marine conservation, and how resource management policies are negotiated under co-management arrangements.

I have studied both ecotourism and marine protected areas as examples of conservation interventions. I draw on, and contribute to, three fields of study: political ecology, common property, and science and technology studies. I welcome inquiries from potential graduate students who have overlapping interests.

My current and past research is associated with the following projects and groups:

• Collaborative Event Ethnography for the study of global conservation governance
• The Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership
• Human Dimensions of Large Marine Protected Areas
• The Nature.Culture.Politics group in Geography, Environment and Geomatics at U of G

Keywords: Political ecology, marine conservation, global environmental governance, ocean space.

Ongoing:

• Collaborative Event Ethnography for the study of global conservation governance, including decolonizing global conservation governance in collaboration with partners involved in the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership
• Ocean Governance and Sustainability in the context of Small Islands

Completed:

• Human Dimensions of Large Marine Protected Areas
• Volunteer Tourism and Marine Conservation in Belize

• GEOG*2030 Environment and Development
• GEOG*3490 Tourism and Environment
• GEOG*4220 Local Environmental Management
• GEOG*6281 Environmental Resource Evaluation

For a complete list, please see my google scholar page.

Gray, Noella J., Catherine Corson, Lisa M. Campbell, Peter Wilshusen, Rebecca Gruby and Shannon Hagerman. 2020. Doing strong collaborative fieldwork in human geography. Geographical Review 110(1-2): 117-132

Gray, Noella J. 2018. Charted Waters? Tracking the Production of Conservation Territories on the High Seas. International Social Science Journal 68 (229-230): 257-272.

Gray, Noella J, Nathan J Bennett, Jon C Day, Rebecca L Gruby, T. Aulani Wilhelm, Patrick Christie. 2017. Human Dimensions of Large-scale Marine Protected Areas: Advancing Research and Practice. Coastal Management 45(6): 407-415.

Gray, Noella J., Alexandra Meeker, Sarah Ravensbergen, Amy Kipp, and Jocelyn Faulkner. 2017. Producing science and global citizenship? Volunteer tourism and conservation in Belize. Tourism Recreation Research 42(2): 199-211.

Gray, Noella J. 2016. The role of boundary organizations in co-management: examining the politics of knowledge integration in a marine protected area in Belize. International Journal of the Commons 10(2): 1013–1034. .

Silver, Jennifer J., Gray, Noella J., Campbell, Lisa M., Fairbanks, Luke W., Gruby, Rebecca L. 2015. Blue Economy and Competing Discourses in International Oceans Governance. Journal of Environment and Development 24(2).

Gray, Noella J., Rebecca L. Gruby and Lisa M. Campbell. 2014. Boundary Objects and Global Consensus: Scalar Narratives of Marine Conservation in the Convention on Biological Diversity. Global Environmental Politics 14(3): 64-83.

Gray, Noella J. 2010. Sea Change: Exploring the International Effort to Promote Marine Protected Areas. Conservation and Society. 8(4): 331-338.

Political Ecology, Marine Conservation, Ocean Governance, and Island Futures

I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students (MA or PhD) who share my research interests in marine conservation governance, “blue economy” policies and impacts, and/or the science-policy interface in the context of conservation and environmental governance, particularly in islands. Please contact me directly to discuss opportunities; inquiries should include a CV/resume and brief statement of your interests.