This research examines 1) the patterns of coastal use change in the Yellow Sea, 2) maritime boundary disputes in the East Asia region, and 3) coastal management practices in the West Coast of the U.S. This set of projects is facilitated by the UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea project and KORDI and KMI grants.

This research examines how communities cope with change in the face of depleting natural resources and economic restructuring.  Previously I focused on fishing communities in transition to tourism discussing limitations of community-based resource management.  Currently, my research extends to coastal eutrophication and adaptive management in urbanized settings.

The focus is on ways to integrate social and natural sciences to benefit human-environment research.  I am 1) leading a review of methodological advances in modeling human-environment interactions in the journal, Ecosystems; 2) actively organizing AAAS symposia on topics related to the integration of interdisciplinary human-environment research; and 3) participating in Moore Foundation-funded workshops on ecosystem services.