Dr. Sarah Wise

About Me

In my role as associate scientist for Area D - Ocean & Society at the Bremen International Graduate School for Marine Sciences GLOMAR, I provide support for the social science PhD students of GLOMAR.

I am interested in how ideas are created and tranferrred among people and institutions. I have conducted research since 2003 on marine governance, resource management, and tenure systems among coastal communities in the Bahamas. My current research examines transboundray decision-making and innovations in marine governance in the North Sea, particularly with repsect to maritime spataial planning.

Using a narrative framework as an analytic lens, this comparative research examines how people develop legitimate claims to coastal space and resources in the context of marine spatial planning; in particular the human dimensions of marine management and the effects of governance shifts in marine commons, and in particular, small islands.

Research Interests
social-ecological linkages, marine governance, energy innovations, transnational networks, science studies, sustainability science, the littoral, small island states, political ecology

Select Publications
• Wise, S. (2014) “Learning through Experience: Non-Implementation and the Challenges of Protected Area Conservation in The Bahamas.” Marine Policy, 2014 (46): 111-118

• Schlüter, A., Wise, S., Schwerdtner-Mánez, K., Weber de Morais, G., Glaser, M. (2013). “Institutional Change, Sustainability and the Sea” in Sustainability, 2013: 5

• Wise, S. and Moore, A. (2013). “Underground, Undersea: The Uses and Perceptions of Bahamian Blue Holes.” In Underwater Speleology. Vol. 40 (1)

• Wise, S. (April 2012). “Collaboration and Translatability” in Anthropology News, Anthropology & Environment Section

Theses
Wise, S. Ph.D. Thesis (2012). “Fluid Boundaries: Fluid Boundaries: Conservation, Enclosure and Ownership in The Bahamas.” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

Wise, S. 2004 M.S. Thesis. “Assessing Community Support for a Proposed Marine Protected Area in The Biminis, Bahamas.” BCEP, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Conference Proceedings
• 2014 “Marine Spatial Planning and the Human Dimensions of Renewable Energies in the North Sea Littoral.” (American Anthropological Association, panel: Anthropological Engagements with Space and ownership.

• 2014 “Better understanding and planning for global change: Maritime spatial planning as a tool for interdisciplinarity.” (Conference co-organizer, 5th Early Career Scientists Conference for Marine and Climate Research: Natural and Social Aspects of the Earth System)

• 2014 “Spatial Associations & Narratives of Legitimacy: The practice of Marine Spatial Planning in the North Sea littoral” (Panel Organizer/Chair, on SFAA Panel: Meaningful Engagements with Dr. Bonnie McCay: past work and future destinations in interdisciplinary research)

• 2014 “Making Room for Coastal Users: Renewable energies and the practice of marine spatial planning in the North Sea” (Invited Speaker, GLOMAR Advisory Board)

• 2013 “Claiming the Coast: Enclosure Conservation & Legitimacy in The Bahamas.” (Invited Speaker, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology)

• 2013 “Bridging the Gap: Marine Conservation and Social Science in The Bahamas”
(Invited speaker, MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences)

• 2013 “Uncertainty, Climate Science, and the Divine: Interdisciplinary Understanding of Blue Holes in The Bahamas.” (Interdisciplinary Conference of Young Earth System Scientists, Best Presentation Award)

• 2013 “A Social Science Perspective of Marine Protected Area Conservation in The Bahamas.” (Natural History of The Bahamas Conference, Bahamas National Trust)

Teaching
GLOMAR Graduate Monthly Topical Seminars: Ocean & Society
- various topics

GLOMAR Graduate Methods
- Introduction to Social Sciences for Natural Scientists
- Social Science Methods: Introduction to Text Analysis