Welcome Annie Young Song and Navam Niles – new co-coordinators of the Asia and Pacific Working Group

I am Annie Young Song, an Associate Professor of International Relations at Yonsei University in South Korea. I received my PhD from the University of Hong Kong, and before that I completed my undergraduate degree in Economics and Psychology and my master’s degree in Public Administration at Queen’s University in Canada. After my PhD, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. During that time, I became increasingly interested in ocean governance, particularly in relation to China. Since then, my research has expanded more broadly to the East Asian region, while continuing to engage with China’s foreign policies and their connections to marine and environmental issues.

My research focuses on how environmental norms and conservation policies travel across borders and become interpreted, resisted, or reinvented in local contexts. I am especially interested in the tension between global ambitions and on-the-ground realities. In my work, I have explored China’s evolving role in ocean governance, including marine biodiversity, fisheries, and polar regions, as well as the impacts of Chinese maritime investments on local livelihoods. More recently, I have also been studying marine protected areas in Korea. Across these different projects, I have come to see that environmental governance is shaped not only by institutions and rules, but also by people, relationships, and the narratives through which policies are translated into practice.

As a researcher whose academic and personal roots are deeply tied to the Asia-Pacific, I have long felt that this region, its environmental challenges, its communities, and its political complexities deserve a stronger and more connected presence within the broader Earth System Governance community. This is why I am eager to be part of the Working Group. I see this role as an opportunity to help strengthen regional connections while contributing to wider conversations on environmental governance from an Asia-Pacific perspective.

I also care deeply about building academic communities in which early-career researchers feel supported, cross-country dialogue is encouraged, and collaboration can emerge organically. Over the past few years, I have worked closely with researchers in conservation science and the natural sciences, and these experiences have shown me the importance of attentive coordination and of creating spaces where diverse voices across the region can participate and be heard.

As a Coordinator, I would like to contribute to rebuilding a vibrant and connected Working Group. I hope to support exchanges across countries and career stages, highlight scholarship from the region, and create opportunities for collaboration around the governance challenges that define our part of the world.

Navam Niles, Co-coordinator

I am a PhD researcher and Research Associate at the University of Melbourne’s School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. My work sits at the intersection of climate change adaptation, development finance, and political economy, with a particular focus on how multilateral development banks and international climate finance shape governance through safeguards and investment practices. I have over a decade of experience in climate change research and policy, including work with international organisations, think tanks, and academic institutions across South Asia and Australia. I am also a member of the Governing Changing Oceans Program, which brings together political science, climate science, ecology, and geography to understand and improve the design of complex environmental governance systems.

The coordinating role is particularly interesting to me because the Asia and Pacific region presents a unique convergence of rapid development, high climate vulnerability, and diverse governance contexts. This creates both significant challenges and opportunities for advancing more effective and equitable adaptation pathways, and I see the Working Group as an important platform for engaging with these dynamics in a collaborative way.

In terms of contributions, I am keen to support the development of collaborative research initiatives, contribute to thematic discussions and outputs, and help strengthen connections across researchers and practitioners in the region. I am especially interested in studying the international political and economic dimensions of climate governance, particularly in relation to infrastructure and development finance.