Emma Chiaroni
Emma is pursuing a dual-title PhD in Rural Sociology & Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Emma studied biology and marine ecology at Santa Rosa Junior College and University of California Santa Cruz where her capstone thesis examined the cohort structure of endangered giant fan mussels in the Mediterranean. In between her bachelors and masters’ studies, Emma worked for several marine conservation non-governmental organizations, working within communities and sites throughout the San Francisco Bay and Central Coast regions of California. For her masters, Emma pursued an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s degree in Marine Environment & Resources through an internationally oriented European program, allowing her to live in the European Union and learn about marine and fisheries management from an international perspective. Emma’s master thesis work examined perceptions of local fishing and maritime cultural heritage in rural coastal Western Scotland on the cusp of Brexit. For her PhD, Emma is focusing on her home, the Central Coast of California. Emma is investigating the dynamics between Tribal and state knowledge systems and perceptions of nature as California begins to develop co-management agreements of marine protected areas between Tribal nations and state agencies.