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About

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.

Selected Publications

Books
  • Webster, D.G. 2015. Beyond the Tragedy in Global Fisheries. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 322.
  • Webster, DG. 2009. Adaptive Governance: The Dynamics of Atlantic Fisheries Management. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Papers/Book Chapters
  • Webster, D.G. 2015. The Action Cycle/Structural Context Framework: A Fisheries Application. Ecology & Society. 20 (1): 33p.
  • Sun, Chin-Hwa Jenny, Fu-Sung Chiang, Patrice Guillotreau, Dale Squires, D.G. Webster, and Matt Owens. 2015. Fewer Fish for Higher Profits? Price Response and Economic Incentives in Global Tuna Fisheries Management. Environmenalt and Resource Economics. Published On-line. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10640-015-9971-4?wt_mc=internal.event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst. DOI 10.1007/s10640-015-9971-4.
  • Roozmand, Omid and D.G. Webster. 2014. Agent based modeling of consumer choice and aggregate demand: Maximizers vs Satisficers. International Journal of Agent Technologies and Systems 6 (4): 18p.
  • Webster, D.G. 2013. International fisheries: Gauging the potential for multispecies management. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 3(2): 169-183.
  • Webster, D.G. 2012. Fisheries. In Fredricks, Sarah, Lei Shen, Shirley Thampson, and Daniel Vasey, eds. Natural Resources and Sustainability, vol. 4 of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability. Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing.
  • Pendleton, L.H., P. King, C. Mohn, D.G. Webster, R.K. Vaughn, and P.N. Adams.  2011.  Estimating the Potential Economic Impacts of Climate Change on California Beaches.  Climatic Change, 109: S277-S298.
  • Webster, DG. 2011. The irony and the exclusivity of Atlantic bluefin tuna management. Marine Policy 35: 249-251.
  • Webster, DG. 2010. Quasi-Property Rights & the Effectiveness of Atlantic Tuna Management. In Robin Allen, James Joseph, and Dale Squires, eds. Conservation and Management of Transnational Tuna Fisheries. Boston: Wiley. 321-332.

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