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Alumna Receives Major Award
Carissa Klein (MESM 2006) recognized for balancing conservation and human needs
Bren alumna Carissa Klein (MESM 2006), who went on to earn her PhD at the
University of Queensland, Australia, has received a major environmental award for
her body of work, which has addressed simultaneously the interests of fisheries
conservation and the livelihoods of fishermen and others affiliated with the fishing
industry.
Klein was awarded the APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education
(ASPIRE) on July 1 by Gusti M. Hatta, Indonesia’s Minister of Research and
Technology, at a ceremony in the city of Medan, on the Indonesian island of
Sumatra. (APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which is described on
its website as “the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade
and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.”)
“We selected Dr. Klein as the 2013 ASPIRE winner based on her approach to
negotiating the fragile balance between ocean conservation and sustainable
livelihoods,” Minister Hatta said at a ceremony honoring Klein. “This is at the heart of
Indonesia’s 2013 APEC priority of sustainable development with equity.”
An APEC release praised her work for “striking a balance between [ocean]
biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic viability.”
“It’s a huge award, and I never would have received it without my Bren Group
Project,” she said from Australia, shortly after receiving the award at a ceremony
held in the city of Medan, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
For her Group Project, Klein and fellow classmates Allison Chan, Amanda Cundiff,
Nadia Gardner, Yvana Hrovat, and Lindsay Kircher worked with faculty advisor
Bruce Kendall and their clients, Satie Airame from PISCO and the Scientific
Advisory Team to California's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), which Steve Gaines
was a member of, to assess various approaches to designing marine protected areas
(MPAs). The creation of MPAs was mandated by the MLPA, passed in 1999, to protect
ocean habitats and allow overfished species to recover while minimizing the impact
on commercial and recreational fisheries. Klein continued this work as part of her
PhD.
A few years later, the work was recognized by World Wildlife Fund Malaysia, which
was interested in using a similar approach to designing MPAs and fishing areas in
Borneo. Klein’s work on her Group Project and the Borneo project contributed to her
receiving the award, as both supported the theme of Sustainable Ocean
Development in APEC member economies, in this case, the United States and
Malaysia.
Selection criteria for the award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize, include
publications, citations, scope of work.
Each APEC member economy (i.e. country) gets to select one person for the
competition. Klein was nominated and selected as Australia's representative.
“That was a huge honor alone,” she says. “I found out a couple of weeks later that I
was the international winner and was so excited. It was hard to believe actually. I
received the award in person in Medan at an awards ceremony and dinner for several
VIPs that included singing, dancing, and speeches.
Klein is currently working on several land-sea conservation planning projects in
which she is studying how such land-based activities as farming, mining, and coastal
development impact marine ecosystems and using the information to inform marine
and terrestrial management decisions. (See an article about a related project in Fiji
here.) She is also working to identify cost-effective management options for the
Great Barrier Reef, which may lose World Heritage status if something significant is
not done in the next year to protect it from a variety of threats, from agricultural
run-off to rapid coastal development.