Marcia Moreno-Báez and Rockford Weitz partner in interdisciplinary examination of ocean diplomacy
For decades, researchers have sought to understand how humans interact with their environment, and how that interaction impacts the environment in turn. With a background in natural resource management and coastal and marine conservation, Marcia Moreno-Báez has seen how policy shapes our coasts, oceans, and the communities engaged with them.
In the face of climate crises, research at the intersection of science policy and international affairs has become increasingly important to advocacy for the ocean’s more sustainable future. To build understanding around these dynamic issues at The Fletcher School, Moreno-Báez collaborates with Rockford Weitz on the developing field of ocean diplomacy.
This growing field uses negotiation and international collaboration to address issues related to the ocean: pollution, climate change, overfishing, food security, management of marine resources, protection of marine life, and regulating ocean resources. Ocean diplomacy requires dynamic stakeholders in governments, science, international groups, and the private sector to collaborate and recognize that the ocean is a resource shared by all.
”The Fletcher School has a long history of engaging in ocean diplomacy, with multiple professors contributing to the Law of the Sea negotiations in the United Nations since the 1950s,” said Weitz, who is the sixth professor to teach Law of the Sea at Fletcher.
Studying ocean diplomacy is an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor, and Moreno-Báez sees a clear need for scholars from different disciplines to come together.
“When we are isolated, working in our own niche, sometimes we don't see outside of that niche,” she said. “These problems are not isolated. We need the expertise of others to understand the complexity of global problems.”
Together, Moreno-Báez and Weitz have expanded the dialogue between science diplomacy and international affairs by promoting ocean diplomacy as a framework for sustainable ocean governance. They are both interested in the role of international cooperation in addressing marine resources management, food security, and shared ocean challenges across Latin America and small island states.
”Iceland is a world leader in sustainable fishing and offers many lessons for the fishing communities in Latin America, Africa, ASEAN countries, and small island developing states,” said Weitz. “Every October, Fletcher sends a delegation to the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland, and we always organize a side visit to Iceland’s Ocean Cluster so Fletcher students and faculty can learn more about Iceland’s sustainable fishing techniques, including the 100% fish utilization movement.”
Ocean Diplomacy Unites Data Science and International Affairs
Oceans do not inherently follow the rules of diplomacy. Marine resources are distributed across countries. Marine life migrates without needing visas or approval, and they do not observe maritime boundaries between nation-states. And yet, the business and policy communities that work and deal with the ocean navigate political ebbs and flows.
”Oceans are the least explored part of our solar system,” Weitz said. “Humans have collected more data about the surfaces of other planets than about the water column and seafloor of the oceans. Geospatial technologies such as LiDAR, satellites and sea drones are starting to change this—revolutionizing access to ocean data collection efforts on the surface and underwater environments.”
Unlike other diplomatic settings, ocean diplomacy includes science as a factor that intersects with policy and international cooperation. This allows scientists to enter the conversation in service of managing ocean sustainability.
Moreno-Báez recently gave a seminar on ocean diplomacy at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur. Her research continues to look at the discourse across elements that impact the ocean. Whether through the regenerative blue economy or her work with coastal fishing communities, she emphasizes that coastal challenges aren’t solely environmental. Social, political, and economic factors are constantly whirring beneath the surface. Figures like Moreno-Báez are shaping how society might navigate these issues sustainably.
Fletcher Shapes Ocean Diplomacy
Working in sectors so vast, Fletcher continues to be a space where students and faculty work to navigate these dynamic issues—and even solve them. For Moreno-Báez, studying these issues at Fletcher has enriched her work in ocean diplomacy.
“Many people at Fletcher are working on topics that pertain to the field of foreign affairs,” she said. “However, many solutions come from the local level. Many of us who work at that level must not only understand the problem from an international relations perspective but also work with communities that are affected.”
This perspective has been a north star for her research at the intersection of oceans, coastal communities, and policy. In her courses, students study geographic information systems (GIS) and learn about how to apply data analysis and research to policy questions in different international settings, including coastal marine environments.
“Coastal communities are experiencing sea level rise and extreme weather,” she said. “They’re seeing the impact on fisheries and the degradation of marine ecosystems. Conversations about ocean diplomacy always need to include people’s livelihoods, and how they depend directly on the oceans and those changes. These are conversations we’re bringing to our students.”
“In my courses, I always make sure that we talk about the people who are going to feel the decisions that we're making using spatial data,” she added. “We don’t just collect or compile data to run an analysis and talk about decisions; we have to ask how people are going to feel those decisions.”
Understanding how the research will impact realities far larger than the classroom helps students understand how to best approach advocacy across disciplines and communities once they head out into their own careers.
Read more about Fletcher’s Master of Arts in International Affairs degree program.