Juliano Palacios Abrantes
Co-chair
E-mail: j.palacios@oceans.ubc.ca
Juliano Palacios Abrantes is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries of the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on how climate change is shifting the distribution of marine species generating uncertain feedbacks on ecosystems and dependent human communities. He is particularly interested in how these shifts affect international shared fish stocks, threatening their sustainability and accentuating sources of conflict, ultimately highlighting the need for adaptive, collaborative, equitable and ecosystem-based management strategies. While Juliano’s research spans global to local studies, having been born in Brazil and raised in Mexico, he has a special interest in supporting marine research and governance in Latin America.
Twitter: @julianop_a
Bia Dias
Co-Chair
E-mail: bdossantosdias@alaska.edu
Web page: Link
Bia Dias (she/her) is a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Fisheries, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her current research explores the effects of regime shifts in the Gulf of Alaska marine food webs, and how that will persist in future climate change scenarios. Bia is also interested in climate adaptation of small pelagic fishes and socio-economic systems.
Twitter: @biaocean
Liliana Sierra Castillo
Member
Liliana Sierra Castillo is an interdisciplinary marine scientist with over a decade of experience partnering with coastal communities and small-scale fisheries across Latin America and the Caribbean. Her work operates at the intersection of science, policy, and community engagement, advancing actionable and equitable solutions to the complex social-ecological challenges facing coastal regions.
Her research spans the full cycle of policy-based decision-making, from collecting and interpreting empirical data to applying rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses, and ultimately co-developing management strategies that are both effective and just. Grounded in mixed-methods research, multivariate statistics, ethnography, fisheries science, critical environmental justice and feminist policitcal ecology, her work centers community histories, knowledge systems, and lived experiences. She facilitates participatory processes that empower local stakeholders to shape governance pathways and articulate their own visions for resilience. Currently, her research examines migration and mobility dynamics in small-scale fishing communities in Puerto Rico and Honduras, uncovering systemic drivers of displacement while amplifying community-led strategies for adaptation and justice.
Her previous projects include modeling and analysis for small-scale fisheries, designing tailored management strategies for small-scale fisheries in Honduras, and investigating the synergies and tensions between aquaculture and capture fisheries in Honduras and Mexico. Across these efforts, she applies a justice lens to critically evaluate Blue Economy policies and their implications for equity, sustainability, and community well-being.
Frédérique Fardin
Member
Frédérique Fardin is a Postdoctoral Resilience Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama), in affiliation with the Nippon Foundation–Ocean Nexus Program. Her research focuses on coastal and marine governance in the Caribbean, with particular emphasis on equity, resilience, and small-scale fisheries. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Cambridge (in affiliation with UNEP-WCMC). Prior to her doctoral research, she worked with regional Caribbean organizations on marine conservation and climate change adaptation, informing her interdisciplinary approach to marine social-ecological systems. She is the founder of Roots of the Sea, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mangrove restoration and environmental education in Martinique, and a National Geographic Explorer.
Dennis Otieno
Member
Dennis Otieno is a marine scientist and fisheries oceanographer with 7+ years of experience advancing sustainable fisheries, marine conservation, and the blue economy across coastal Kenya and the Western Indian Ocean. His work bridges ecosystem-based science, community engagement, and enterprise development, linking mangrove–seagrass–coral reef connectivity to resilient livelihoods and fisheries governance. He combines technical expertise in data analysis, GIS, and observational oceanography with a commitment to gender equity and inclusive development. His research focuses on fisheries oceanography, ocean governance, and policy-relevant ocean science across coastal and open ocean systems. An NF-POGO Centre of Excellence Scholar (2024–25), he serves as assistant editor of Kenya Aquatica and is affiliated with ECOP-Kenya and WIOMSA.
Priyatma Singh
Member
E-mail: priyatmas@unifiji.ac.fj
Priyatma is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Fiji. She previously taught at the University of the South Pacific (also located in Fiji). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Environmental Science from Linkoping University in Sweden. Her thesis focuses on Marine Spatial Planning and its impact on Small Island Developing States. Her research interests include ocean governance, coastal resilience and ecosystem-based adaptation. She is engaged in several international projects in collaboration with regional and international donors. Her current project focuses on goal conflicts between the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with emphasis on SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities: Reduce inequality within and among countries).
Mia Strand
Member
E-mail: miavstrand@gmail.com
Mia is a marine social scientist at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. Her research focuses on equity in ocean governance, knowledge co-production processes, marine cultural heritage and children’s rights to a healthy ocean. She is a researcher with the One Ocean Hub, and an Ocean Nexus fellow starting January 2024. Prior to her PhD, Mia worked with non-governmental organisations and international development agencies in South Africa and Mozambique, and her passion for research with local coastal communities as co-researchers stems from first-hand seeing inequity in access to the ocean and opportunities in informing ocean decision-making. Mia is also a member of the UN Ocean Decade South Africa Node and the Africa Node’s Ocean Literacy Task Team.
Gabriella Akpah Yeboah
Member
E-mail: gabi0009@yahoo.co.uk
Gabriella Akpah Yeboah is a PhD student at the University of Ghana, specialising in oyster sclerochronology. She also has expertise in marine-related fields like plastic pollution and remote sensing. Gabriella also serves as the National Coordinator for Early Career Ocean Professionals in Ghana, and is a passionate advocate for underrepresented professionals and champions climate change awareness and marine conservation.
Yixue Zhang
Member
E-mail: yxzhang@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn
Yixue is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research (SKLEC), East China Normal University. She earned her PhD in Marine Chemistry from SKLEC in 2023, following a Bachelor of Science (with honors) from the Ocean University of China. Her research is centered on marine biogeochemical cycles, with a specific focus on the complex interactions between chemical components and microbial processes in the open ocean. She is dedicated to unraveling the mechanisms governing the sequestration and transformation of organic matter, contributing to a deeper understanding of the ocean’s role in global carbon and nitrogen budgets. Yixue currently serves as an Early Career Scientist of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 161 and is the Principal Investigator for a project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Built upon extensive field experience in the East Indian Ocean and South China Sea, her work has been featured in various peer-reviewed journals in earth and marine sciences.