The Marine Resource Management program celebrates its golden anniversary
Spring/Summer 2024
When I set out to write a story about the fiftieth anniversary of CEOAS’s Marine Resource Management master’s program for this issue, I had a pretty good idea of how I would structure the story. I confidently wrote an outline that divided the alumni I planned to interview into sectors: How had MRM influenced the world of marine technology? Sustainable fisheries? Coastal zone management? I had a list.
With the very first interview I conducted, I knew that this organizational structure was a terrible idea. The utter collapse of my initial outline reflected the biggest advantage of the MRM program itself: interdisciplinarity. None of the alums I interviewed could be put in a single category. They are all doing interdisciplinary, collaborative work, criss-crossing categories and defying the shoeboxes I wanted to put them in. Is Annie Merrill (Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition) a policy advocate or a communicator? She is both, and more. Is Linus Stoltz (Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation) involved in marine technology or sustainable fisheries? Both, and more. And don’t get me started on Will Klajbor (Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Science/NOAA – even his employer isn’t just a single entity). I labeled him as a “marine technology guy” when I learned he worked on offshore wind but during our interview I found out that’s really, really not right, as you will see.
In this issue we highlight the strengths and outcomes of the MRM program, and take a peek at its future. We also find out what geographer Jim Thatcher has been thinking about the intersection of board games and climate change, and we ask another geographer, Jamon Van Den Hoek, about his work mapping the war in Gaza.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Nancy Steinberg
Editor
