At the broadest level, my research investigates the ways people adapt to environmental change. I frame this research in the context of human and environment interactions and have focused on extreme and gradual changes in coastal environments, particularly on the topics of fisheries depletion, oil spills, and climate change. Drawing on case studies in Korea and the U.S., I have examined community responses and community engagement with external authorities and financial and physical resources, and the community’s access to scientific, technical, and nonlocal knowledge, as well as the role of government in local revitalization and restoration after environmental change. A related research agenda I am pursuing is building conceptual and methodological understandings for linking human and natural systems. Examples include interdisciplinary approaches to adaptation to environmental change, mixed methods in land change research, and social-ecological impact of oil spills.

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