Speaker – Eric Wade, Ph.D., Department of Coastal Studies, Integrated Coastal Programs, Coastal Studies Institute, East Carolina University (hosted by K. Dello, State Climate Office).  Join us in person or online. 

Seminar Title – Moving beyond conventional approaches to holistically support coastal communities’ response to socio-environmental change.

Abstract – Coastal communities are facing unprecedented pressures from overexploitation of resources, biodiversity loss, urbanization, and degradation of marine ecosystems. These pressures have significantly impacted how stakeholders conceptualize and make decisions in the face of these coupled changes. Research and policy are increasingly interested in learning how to create an enabling environment to support communities’ response to these changes. This recognition, however, requires an expansion of current approaches to understanding communities by moving beyond surface-level analyses and assumptions. Instead, it calls for intentionally including the interaction between historical, social, and environmental dynamics to understand communities’ responses and capacities to adapt. Yet, accommodating diverse stakeholder needs is particularly challenging due to mistrust, power imbalances, and fears of exploitative encroachments. Failure to consider historical realities rooted in early colonial exclusion, historical racial inequities, and negative experiences risks misunderstanding current power relations. Using case studies from North Carolina and Jamaica, this presentation will explore how expanding our conceptualization of the variables that influence how communities respond and adapt to changes may support more sustainable transitions.

Bio – Dr. Eric Wade is an assistant professor of environmental social science at East Carolina University and an assistant research scientist at the Coastal Studies Institute. His primary expertise is studying human-environment interactions within coastal and marine systems. Specifically, his research focuses on understanding the non-monetary factors influencing individual and collective decision-making in response to socio-ecological changes.

Furthermore, Dr. Wade’s work examines how formal and informal institutions influence stakeholders’ behaviors and decisions within coastal and marine environments. His research areas include fisheries governance and management, marine spatial planning, and the social dimensions of marine renewable energy. His research is primarily based in the Wider-Caribbean region and North Carolina (USA). Dr. Wade is committed to conducting research that generates actionable science, contributing not only to theoretical knowledge but also to the development and well-being of local communities.