Campus Directory

Pronouns she, her, her, hers, herself

Division Social Sciences Division

Department/College/Unit Environmental Studies Department

Title Assistant Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Coastal Science & Policy Program
Institute of Marine Sciences
Global & Community Health

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Web Site

Primary Office Location Interdisciplinary Sciences Building
477

Mail Stop Environmental Studies

Biography, Education and Training

BA International Studies, Emory University

MAS Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

PhD Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley

Summary of Expertise

Marine and coastal law and policy, political ecology, marine resource governance

Research Interests

My research lies at the intersection of political ecology, governance theory, and sustainability science. Using frameworks from these fields, my research investigates the equity, sustainability, and governance of marine and coastal systems, and the reciprocal relationship they have with human wellbeing and conflict. I am interested in understanding marine resource use at multiple scales, and my research focuses on ecology and governance of marine systems, seafood within local and global food systems, coastal access and equity, and issues of maritime security and globalization. My current research explores:

1) The social and ecological consequences of competition between small-scale and industrial fishing in West Africa,

2) Management of tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and the implications for illicit activity and disproportionate conservation burden for Small Island Developing States (SIDS),

3) The broad relationship between fisheries and social conflict

4) The role of seafood in local and global food systems

5) Coastal access and equity in California

Awards, Honors and Grants

Honors:

Hellman Fellowship

Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Associate Fellowship

Australia National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) Honorary Fellowship

Current Grants:

Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation Sprout Grant

Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation Building Belonging Grant

National Science Foundation (NSF) Coupled Human and Natural Systems Grant, “Interactive Dynamics of Reef Fisheries and Human Health”

Selected Publications

Seto, K. L., D.W. Aheto, G.A. Asiedu, T. Kwadjosse, K.M. O’Neill. 2022. Local fishery, global commodity: The role of institutions in mediating intersectoral conflict, cooperation, and competition in a globalized fishery. 2023. Environ. Res. Lett. 18 075008

Seto, K. L., N. Miller, D. Kroodsma, Q. Hanich, M. Miyahara, R. Saito, K. Boerder, M.Tsuda, Y. Oozeki, O. Urrutia S. Fishing through the cracks: the unregulated nature of global squid fisheries. Science Advances, 9(10), eadd8125.

Seto, K. L., K.J. Easterday, D.W. Aheto, G.A. Asiedu, U.R. Sumaila, K.J. Gaynor. 2022. Evidence of spatial competition, over resource scarcity, as a primary driver of conflicts between small-scale and industrial fishers. Ecology and Society, 28(1), p.6.

Cronin, M., J. Amaral, A. Jackson, J. Jacquet, K.L. Seto, D. Croll. Policy and transparency gaps for oceanic shark and rays in high seas tuna fisheries. Fish and Fisheries 24, no. 1 (2023): 56-70.

Golden, C.D., J. Gephart, J.G. Eurich, D.J. McCauley, M.K. Sharp, N.L. Andrew, K.L. Seto. 2021. Social-ecological traps link food systems to nutritional outcomes. Global Food Security 30 (2021): 100561.

Seto, K., G. Galland, A.McDonald, A. Abolhassani, K. Azmi, H. Sinan, T. Timmiss, Q. Hanich. 2020. Resource allocation in transboundary tuna fisheries: a global analysis. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01371-3

Seto, K., N. Miller, M. Young, Q. Hanich. 2020. Toward transparent governance of trans-boundary fisheries: The case of Pacific tuna transshipment. Marine Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104200

Park, J., J. Lee, K. Seto, T. Hochberg, B. Wong, N. Miller, K. Takasaki, H. Kubota, Y. Oozeki, S. Doshi, M. Midzik, Q. Hanich, B. Sullivan, P. Woods, D. Kroodsma. 2020. Illuminating Dark Fishing Fleets in North Korea. Science Advances. 6(30): 1-7.

Finkbeiner, E., N. Bennett, C. Brooks, T. Frawley, J. Mason, C. Ng, R. Ourens, K. Seto, S. Swanson, J. Urteaga, D. Briscoe, L.B. Crowder. Reconstructing overfishing: moving beyond Malthus for effective and equitable solutions. Fish and Fisheries 00(2017):1-12. doi: 10.1111/faf.12245

Seto, K., D. Belhabib, J. Mamie, D. Copeland, J.M. Vakily, H. Seilert, A. Baio, S. Harper, D. Zeller, K. Zylich, D. Pauly. War, fish, and foreign fleets: The marine fisheries catches of Sierra Leone 1950-2015. Marine Policy 83(2017): 153-163.

Seto, K. and KJ Fiorella. 2017. From Sea to Plate: The Role of Fish in a Sustainable Diet. Frontiers in Marine Science 4:74. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00074

Gaynor, K., K. Fiorella, J. Gregory, D. Kurz, K. Seto, L. Withey,J. Brashares. (2016) War and wildlife: linking armed conflict to conservation. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment. 14(10): 533-542.

Seto, K. “West Africa & the New European Common Fisheries Policy: Impacts & Implications,” in Twenty Years of Development Under the UNCLOS Regime. eds. C. Esposito, J. Kraska, H. Scheiber and M.Kwon. Boston: Nijhoff Brill Publishers, in press 2015.

Brashares, J., B. Abrams, K. Fiorella, C. Hojnowski, R. Marsh, D. McCauley, T. Nunez, K. Seto, L. Withey. Wildlife Decline and Social Conflict. Science Vol. 345 No. 6195 (25 July 2014) pp. 376-378.

Advisees, Grad Students & Researchers Stoltz, Amanda (astoltz)
Reid-Shaw, Indiana (ireidsha)
Pickett, Crissy (clpicket)
Gee, Emma (ekgee)

Courses ENVS 250/CSP 243 Coastal Governance
ENVS 150 Coastal & Marine Policy
ENVS 110 Institutions, the Environment, and Economic Systems