Peter Jones

Peter specialises in research on different approaches to governing human uses of marine ecosystems. He is internationally recognised as an authority on marine protected area, marine spatial planning and fisheries governance issues, with a particular focus on how state, market and participative approaches can be combined to achieve strategic conservation objectives.

He has been an advisor to the European Common Fisheries Policy and England's conservation agency on marine protected area governance and recently undertook a project for the United Nations Environment Programme to analyse how different approaches can be combined to effectively govern marine protected areas, based on 20 case studies around the world. He also led a work programme on governance as part of a project on the monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed marine areas to support the development and implementation of marine spatial planning in Europe's seas

More about Professor Jones

1985 - BSc Biological Sciences, Portsmouth Polytechnic, specialising in marine ecology
1988 - MSc Marine Resource Development and Protection, Heriot-Watt University
1997 - PhD Value conflicts underlying the governance of marine protected areas, Heriot-Watt University
1997 - Research Fellow, Jackson Environment Institute, University College London
2000 - Senior Research Fellow, Jackson Environment Institute, University College London
2001 - Lecturer, Dept of Geography, University College London
2010 - Senior Lecturer, Dept of Geography, University College London
2015 - Reader/Senior Associate Research Professor in Environmental Governance, Dept of Geography, University College London.
2021 Professor of Environmental Governance, Dept of Geography, University College London.
2023 Emeritus Professor of Environmental Governance, Dept of Geography, University College London

Further publications

Our MPA Governance research is featured as a UCL REF2021 Impact case study - Shaping the international protection of oceans, coasts and marine ecosystems
Webinar on our MPA governance paper (OA): here is a recording of the webinar on the MarSocSci YouTube channel. Many thanks to the Marine Social Science Network for organising and hosting this webinar.
Expanding marine protected areas by 5% could boost fish catches by 20% – but there's a catch: in our article in The Conversation we discuss the paper A global network of marine protected areas for food. We consider some of the challenges of expanding the global Highly Protected Marine Protected Area (HPMPA) network by 5% to yield a 20% increase in total global fish catches. See the UCL News article. Note the PNAS paper on which our article was based was subsequently retracted due to a data error, coupled with concerns about the peer review process, see retraction notice, an interesting but justifiably critical perspective by Sustainable Fisheries (University of Washington) on this paper and its retraction being available.
Article in The Conversation - Climate change: plastic pollution obsession distracts attention from biggest environmental challenge facing the planet. Based on recent paper, Ocean plastic pollution has become a convenient but distracting truth (OA copy). This builds on our Guardian State of Our Oceans blog Is plastic pollution a convenient distraction to climate change and the need to reform our lifestyles and economic systems? See Department news article and UCL News article on this paper. A rejoinder to our paper has been published and we have responded to this (OA copy). We have also published two related articles in The Conversation - How to Stop Climate Change: six ways to make the world a better place & 'Climate Change - The Facts': the BBC and David Attenborough should talk about solutions
Paperback version of Governing Marine Protected Areas - resilience through diversity published (use 20% discount code FLY21 at Routledge or Amazon is sometimes cheaper). Nature has briefly but positively reviewed this book and invited a comment on the need to Assess Governance Structures, based on this book, as part of a 'to-do list for the world's parks' published to coincide with the World Parks Congress. Also see Earthscan site for seven further reviews; Special Report in The Ecologist, review in International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law - review by Bob Earll - article on scale challenges for MPA networks - MPA News interview - Webinar with MarSocSci network on recent MPAG paper - MPAG project website for more information on this book

Teaching

I taught on the following modules:

The Rural Matrix: Institutional and Policy Context (GEOG0090, Convenor)
Conservation and Environmental Management (GEOG0093)

YouTube Widget Placeholderhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shWT4eXZQfI

Other academic roles: External examiner

MSc Marine Systems and Policies, University of Edinburgh (November 2018 - October 2022)
Marine MSc programme: Marine Resource Development & Protection/Marine Biodiversity & Biotechnology/Climate Change: Managing the Marine Environment, Heriot-Watt University (2010/11-2013/14)
BSc Environmental Management/Biology/Science, Imperial College (2003/04-2006/07)
BSc Marine Resource Management, University of Aberdeen (2003/04-2005/06)
Diploma in Ecology and Conservation, Birkbeck College ( 2002/03-2006/07).

Publications

To view Professor Jones's publications, please visit UCL Profiles:

Publications

Research Interests

Research Focus

My research is focused on marine ecosystem governance issues, with a particular focus on those raised by marine protected areas and marine spatial planning initiatives as a means of achieving biodiversity and fisheries conservation objectives. It is both interdisciplinary, crossing social-natural sciences, and translational, bringing theoretical perspectives to real challenges, contributing to both theories and practices.

In terms of environmental sociology, rather than adopting a structure or agency approach to analysing governance issues, my research adopts a realist institutional analysis approach, whereby the interactions between structure and agency and their co-evolution are the focus. In terms of environmental governance, my research challenges the widely held view that people-focused (neo-institutional) and/or market-focused (neoliberal) approaches should be the focus of governance.

My empirical work on marine ecosystem governance is premised on arguments that a combination of governance approaches is required, and that state-focused (neo-Hobbesian) approaches are also of critical importance. My research is recognised as challenging the current dominance of neo-institutional and neoliberal views, employing empirical analyses of the marine protected areas and marine spatial planning governance case studies to support the argument that whilst both people and market-focused governance approaches are important, the state plays a key role in steering markets and people, and that the state’s role is critically important if strategic conservation objectives and obligations are to be fulfilled and institutional resilience to the potentially perturbing effects of driving forces is to be developed.

Current Research Projects

Marine protected area governance (MPAG)

This research explores questions relating to the effective and equitable governance of marine protected areas (MPAs) and options for addressing them. A key theme is that MPA governance needs to combine participative, legal and economic approaches. Building on ideas concerning the governance of common-pool resources, this research employs a more holistic and less prescriptive theoretical and empirical framework for analysing case studies on the governance of MPAs. This trans-disciplinary approach is aimed at supporting the development of MPA governance approaches that build social-ecological resilience through both institutional and biological diversity. This builds on the argument that diversity is the key to resilience, both of species in ecosystems and incentives in governance systems. This research originally involved 20 case studies from around the world, funded by UNEP, culminating in the publication of the book Governing Marine Protected Areas: resilience through diversity. Details of a previous special issue of the journal Marine Policy and related outputs are available at MPAG website. Some recent developments related to MPAG research:-

29 further MPAG case studies around the world are being undertaken, 16 of which, along with 18 from the original 20 case studies (published in the book), are being subject to a new multiple case study analysis of the governance of 34 MPAs for forthcoming UNE Guidance and a special section of the journal Marine Policy;
drawing on MPAG findings for UN Call to Action and Scientists' Consensus Statement under the 10X20 MPA capacity-building initiative by the Government of Italy, the Ocean Sanctuary Alliance and UNEP.

Monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed marine areas (MESMA)

November 2009 - October 2013. Dr Peter Jones was part of this consortium of researchers around the EU that was awarded a € 6.6 million (UCL € 0.67 million) grant under the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme. Dr Jones led the overarching work programme on governance issues, that analysed different approaches to implementing marine spatial planning. The MESMA project involved 21 research organisations from 12 EU and related countries. The outputs of the MESMA governance analyses, including five papers and a special section of Marine Policy, are now available, based on 12 case studies in and around the EU on marine spatial planning; builds on previous related blog and presentation at Coastal Futures conference: Emerging tensions between blue growth and good environmental status, keynote at OECD Workshop: Marine Protected Areas and Marine Spatial Planning: co-evolution or competition? and presentation at final MESMA workshop MSP: who is at the helm?; also see transcript of online discussion on these findings.

Journal editorial roles

International Editorial Board Member:

Marine Policy (since January 2004)
Manuscript reviewer for AMBIO Journal of the Human Environment
Advances in Marine Biology, Aquatic Conservation; Biological Conservation
Coastal Management; Conservation and Society
Conservation Biology
Conservation Letters
Environmental Conservation
Environmental Policy and Governance
Environmental Politics; Geoforum, Global Environmental Change
Journal of Environmental Assessment, Policy and Management
Journal of Environmental Management
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
Maritime Studies; Nature Sustainability
Oryx
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The Geographical Journal
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.

Impact

Adviser to and co-facilitator of DEFRA's workshops on Highly Protected Marine Area proposals (September 2022)
Member of the Expert Panel (May 2022) that supports the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fisheries.
Contributed to and edited British Ecological Society Report (April 2022) - Protected Areas and Nature Recovery. Achieving the goal to protect 30% of UK land and seas for nature by 2030, particularly on governance of protected areas - key message: Protected areas can be the beating heart of nature recovery in the UK, but they must be more than lines on a map.
Member of Sussex Kelp Recovery Project steering group as advisor on coastal ecosystem recovery enabled through Inshore Trawling Byelaw, particularly related governance issues, as well as in my capacity as Chair of Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (SxIFCA, see below), which developed and is implementing the Inshore Trawling Byelaw.
Chair of the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (SxIFCA) since April 2021, having been a Marine Management Organisation (MMO) Appointee since October 2010. The expertise I have gained through my research on the governance of marine resources and MPAs has been applied to deliberations, decisions and actions concerning the governance of fisheries and of 10 MPAs within the inshore waters of Sussex. I have also been a catalyst and effective advocate for SxIFCA initiatives and proposals to promote improved conservation, particularly a recent trawling byelaw proposal, which includes the closure of 304 km2 to seabed trawling, the aim being that this will promote the recovery of kelp beds and other biogenic habitats. This has gained support through the Help Our Kelp campaign by Sussex Wildlife Trust, including a video narrated by David Attenborough.
Advisor (since November 2020) to the Arksen Foundation's campaign for ocean philanthropy - 10% For the Ocean.
Expert advisor to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) workshop sessions on Behaviour Change (February-March 2021), in preparation for the 8th Replenishment Cycle (2022-2026). These workshops focused on how GEF funded projects can learn from past experiences of different governance approaches for changing human behaviour to better achieve conservation and related goals, building on the document Why Behaviour change matters to the GEF and what to do about it. My input drew on the findings of MPAG case studies as the focus of this research is how to combine different governance incentives to change human behaviour to better achieve effectiveness and equity goals.
Podcast: Origins of the Pandemic: "The emergence of a new pandemic is something that has impacted us all in varying degrees of hell. But where do pandemics come from? Where do they start and how are we responsible? Can we call this year an ecological event? From Measles, to Ebola to Sars to covid 19, Tom talks to Zoonotic disease specialist Dr David Redding, and Reader in Environmental governance, Dr Peter Jones, and finds out about the origins of disease and the correlation between environmental breakdown and the spread of pandemics." See related article published by International Affairs Forum as part of a series of articles on the Post Pandemic World (July 2020), our article Governance of the Global Environmental Crisis Post-COVID-19 is pages 18-21. Builds on a two previous papers in The Ecologist - What Covid-19 can teach us about governance and After Coronavirus: a comprehensive Green New Deal restores local jobs, benefits communities [and] is effective in the fight against environmental breakdown.
UN Environment publishes international guidance based on our MPA Governance research: Enabling Effective and Equitable Marine Protected Areas: guidance on combining governance approaches. This is evidence-based guidance drawing on 34 case studies from 19 countries around the world detailed in an accompanying compendium. A briefing on this MPA Governance guidance and the background to it is available here and a summary of it by the SDG Knowledge Hub is available here. This research was previously featured in UN Environment's Frontiers 2017 (pp.36-45) report launched at the UN Environment Assembly, Nairobi: Marine Protected Areas: securing benefits for sustainable development - "Ultimately, governing the oceans in a sustainable way could see Marine Protected Areas as a driver – not a limit – for the vital economic and social benefits that we derive from the global ocean." Department of Geography news article on this.
Invited participation and keynote at Workshop Towards Brazil's National Target 11 - the Marine Protected Area Governance (MPAG) project's rationale and findings formed the basis of the opening presentation of the case studies session of this workshop (10-12 April 2018), organised by the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil and UN Environment. This is part of Brazil's initiative to develop a new White Paper: Options for enhancing management of marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, which is drawing on the MPAG rationale and the recommendations made by Peter at the workshop, with Peter’s ongoing input. The MPAG presentation included some recommendations for this new national MPA strategy, which can be found in the slides of the MPAG presentation (from slide 29, also translated into Portuguese). See related Dept News Article
Evidence provided at Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee Inquiry - Marine Protected Areas Revisited (Wednesday 13 December 2016). Transcript of evidence session (Q37 onwards for Peter's panel session) - video of evidence session on Parliament TV (Peter’s session begins at 11:40:34) - Government response - EAC response to this. The panel was asked to respond to a number of specific questions concerning marine protected areas (MPAs) and related UK policies. Peter emphasised that a more holistic focus on the integrity of MPA ecosystems is needed rather than the present reductive evidence-hungry focus on specific features, such as particular species, and their vulnerability to specific activities, and that no-take zones, where all fishing and other extractive activities is banned, must be implemented for effective ecosystem protection, covering, to start with, at least 10% of the UK’s sea area. He also argued that effective protection must now begin to engage with the EC’s Common Fisheries Policy for all MPAs beyond 6 nautical miles, otherwise Brexit paralysis could fatally stall the process for these offshore MPA designations and they will remain merely as ineffective ‘paper parks’. Overall, he concluded that the UK government should consider and present MPAs as opportunities that can yield benefits, not just as restrictions that represent costs.
Coordinated governance stream of international conference (7-9 March 2016, Rome) to support the achievement of a globally agreed target to conserve at least 10% of coastal & marine areas by 2020 (SDG 14, Target 5). This is part of the Ocean Sanctuary Alliance’s 10X20 initiative, in collaboration with the Government of Italy, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Caribbean Environment Programme. The first two days of the conference involved 25 international experts in discussions on good practice for measures to designate and promote the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs), focusing on science, governance and finance. During the third day, diplomatic representatives from 33 countries from around the world joined the conference to agree a Call to Action and Scientists' Consensus Statement. These outputs aim to provide a “road map” for moving forward on achieving the 10% marine protection target, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This will help guide national governments, United Nations agencies and development donors in MPA projects around the world, promoting MPAs that are designated on the basis of the best available science, that are effectively and equitably governed, and that contribute to sustainable development and are financially sustainable. Peter was invited to give a keynote address and lead the governance stream in order to draw on the findings of the international MPA Governance project that he runs, particularly the rationale and case studies discussed in his recent book Governing Marine Protected Areas: resilience through diversity.
Keynote at OECD Workshop on The Future of Maritime Spatial Planning: What Potential for Economic Tools and Satellite Technology?, Lisbon, Portugal, 4-5 June 2015. My presentation: Marine Protected Areas and Marine Spatial Planning: co-evolution or competition? - discusses the evolutionary links between MPAs & MSP, and argues that integrated-use MSP is becoming a competitor to ecosystem-based MSP, leading to the marginalisation of MPAs.
Invited contribution to legacy document for practitioners and researchers from the World Parks Congress: Day J.C., Laffoley D., Zischka K., Gilliland P., Gjerde K., Jones P.J.S., Knott J., McCook L., Milam A., Mumby P. and Wilhelm A. (2015) ‘Chapter 20 - Marine Protected Area Management’ in (eds) Worboys G.L., Lockwood M., Kothari A., Feary S. and Pulsford I. (2015) Protected Area Governance and Management, Australian National University Press, Canberra, pp.609-650 (MPAG section pp.623-626), based on MPAG project; entire book and the MPA chapter are available as a free download.
Submitted written (pp.240-241) and oral evidence (pp.3-41; video, starts at 4 mins, 10 December 2014) to House of Lords EU Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy Sub-Committee inquiry on Regional Marine Co-operation - see report (March 2015)
Contributed to Marine Spatial Planning in Practice – Transitioning from Planning to Implementation (June 2014): Technical Paper for Convention on Biological Diversity: Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) in response to CBD COP 10 decision x/29. Previously an expert reviewer of related report: Marine Spatial Planning in the Context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD Technical Series No. 68, November 2012, available via the Global Environment Facility) and contributor (see presentation Ecological Connectivity Through Institutional Connectivity) to break-out session on Ecosystem-based Coastal Planning and Management at UNEP Global Conference on Land Ocean Interactions, Manila, The Philippines (January 2012)
The outputs of the Monitoring and Evaluation of Spatially Managed Marine Areas (MESMA) project include analyses of the actual realities of implementing marine spatial planning in Europe (see summary of main points) and provide guidance to MPA practitioners and related policy-makers on how to address the challenges posed by these realities. These outputs are listed here.
Invited to contribute to training event on Social, Economic and Institutional Perspectives in the Co-management of MPAs (September 2013, Murcia, Spain) organised by the EC funded Training Network for Monitoring Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas, which "aims to train the next generation of MPA scientists and managers, equipping them with a flexible set of skills essential within a wide range of professional environments".
Presentation on the implications of MPAs for port development at conference on Marine Protected Area implications: working together to achieve sustainable development (November 2012). High level policy and port operator forum, which included an update from Richard Benyon, (then) Minister for the Natural Environment, Water and Rural Affairs, and was chaired by Lord Ambrose Greenway, joint chair of the All-Party Ports and Maritime Group.
Invited to provide a briefing and answer questions at the opening session of an Inquiry into Marine Policy in Wales (October 2012), Environment and Sustainability Committee, National Assembly for Wales.
Submitted evidence (Ev w1-2) to DEFRA’s Marine Science Co-ordination Committee on the evidence basis for marine conservation zone proposals (August 2012)
Co-chaired working group that produced the European version of the Science of Marine Reserves (2011) in collaboration with Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO, California), funded by Natural England and distributed to marine protected area practitioners all over the EU. Collates and translates research for MPA policy-makers and practitioners. See published and copy version of related paper.
Led research in collaboration with UNEP and the IUCN and production of guidance report Marine Protected Area Governance: getting the balance right (March 2011). Involved over 25 of the world’s experts on MPA governance issues through 20 case studies. Nature news feature 'Ocean Conservation: uncertain sanctuary' discusses some of the findings of this report and the editorial of this issue of Nature discusses this news feature: 'Troubled Waters'. This report has provided guidance on how to combine different approaches in order to more effectively govern MPAs to practitioners all over the world. This report was launched at an invited keynote address at Nordic Council of Ministers and Food and Agriculture Organisation conference Exploring the Role of MPAs in Reconciling Fisheries Management with Conservation, 29-31 March 2011, Institute of Marine Research, Norway.
Presentation on five key challenges for modernised marine management framework to address at Westminster Forum on Fisheries and the Marine Environment, 10 November 2010. High level Whitehall briefing and forum event for senior policy and corporate representatives.
Invited as an expert lecturer on advanced course for professionals - Establishment and management of marine protected areas for fisheries, International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, Zaragoza, Spain, 8-13 March, 2010.
Contributed to report to DEFRA on Determining how and what to take into account in the planning of marine protected area networks – socio-economic data (ABPMER January 2010)
Submitted Memorandum of Evidence on the role of the precautionary principle in justifying highly protected marine reserves (DMB3, Ev 145-147, Volume II of JCDMB Report) to the Parliament's Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill (JCDMB). This evidence was cited in supporting the Joint Committee's Recommendation that the precautionary principle should be employed to select Marine Conservation Zones where there is limited knowledge (para. 126, page 55, Volume I of JCDMB Report (2008).
In relation to the EC's Common Fisheries Policy (DG Fisheries), contributed to deliberations and first author of concluding sections of final report (pp. 128-133) of Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) sub-group: Evaluation of Closed Areas (October 2007); also reviewed deep sea fisheries assessments for the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES, March 2008).
Contributed to guidance document to the government's conservation agency (Natural England) on Methods for managing Marine Protected Areas: options for establishing and managing a marine protected area system (December 2007); feedback from several Natural England marine officers indicates that this guidance has been drawn on by many MPA managers. This guidance builds on previous guidance (2001) produced under the UK Marine SACs project (funded under the EC LIFE programme) to which I contributed on approaches for promoting relevant authority and stakeholder participation in European Marine Sites in the UK. Similar advice was provided in relation to marine SACs in the Azores. In this respect, I was also appointed as a member of English Nature's Marine Science Technical Advisory Group (Dec 2003 – July 2006).
Contributed to report to Countryside Council for Wales: Highly Protected Marine Reserves – Evidence of Benefits and Opportunities for Marine Biodiversity in Wales (December 2006)
Wrote a publicity and campaign briefing for Wildlife & Countryside LINK on why the weaknesses of the marine nature reserve provisions should not be repeated in the Marine Bill (November 2006).
Contributed to DEFRA project and report to "identify, develop and evaluate methods for communicating flood and erosion risk and uncertainties to a range of stakeholders. This will lead to consistency and best practice in communicating flood and erosion risk and hazard, and to improve understanding of risk and uncertainty among stakeholders, and support moves to risk-based planning guidance" (DEFRA 2003)
Reviewer of marine research proposals/reports for DEFRA, ESRC, NERC, National Commission for Scientific and Technological Investigation (CONICYT, Chile), Natural England, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society, and Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Also review book proposals related to marine ecosystem governance for publishers, particularly Earthscan.

Research Students

Current PhD Students

Jian Chen (primary supervisor): A coevolutionary governance analysis of marine protected areas in China.
Jason Lynch (subsidiary supervisor): A social-ecological approach to understanding the footprint of fisheries on tropical coral reef biodiversity - UCL London NERC DTP.
Daniela Laínez del Pozo (primary supervisor): Articulating Sustainability and Conservation in Marine Protected Areas in Northern Peru (primary supervisor) - LASPAU funded with additional fieldwork funds from WWF Russell E Train Fellowship, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Scott Neotropical Fund and RGS Dudley Stamp Memorial Award and a UCL Cross Disciplinary Training Award for an extra year of study and research with the Department of Anthropology's Human Ecology Research Group. Paper: Laínez del Pozo D. and Jones P.J.S. (2021) Governance analysis of two historical MPAs in northern Peru: Isla Lobos de Tierra and Isla Lobos de Afuera (free copy).

Past PhD students

Steve Long (finished 2021)- The sustainability of deep-sea fishing in Greenland from a benthic ecosystem perspective: the nature of habitats, impacts of trawling and the effectiveness of governance (subsidiary supervisor) - UCL London NERC DTP. Papers: Long and Jones (2021 Open Access) Greenland's offshore Greenland halibut fishery and role of the Marine Stewardship Council certification: a governance case study; Long et al (2020 Open Access) Identification of a soft coral garden candidate vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) using video imagery, Davis Strait, west Greenland (see Daily Mail coverage); Long et al (2021 Open Access) Critical analysis of the governance of the Sainte Luce Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA), southeast Madagascar; Long et al (2021 Open Access): Governance analysis of a community managed small-scale crab fishery in Madagascar; Long (2017 Open Access) Short-term impacts and value of a periodic no take zone (NTZ) in a community-managed small-scale lobster fishery, Madagascar; Jones and Long (2021 Open Access) Analysis and discussion of 28 recent marine protected area governance (MPAG) case studies: challenges of decentralisation in the shadow of hierarchy; Long et al (2021 Open Access) Deep-sea benthic habitats and the impacts of trawling on them in the offshore Greenland halibut fishery, Davis Strait, west Greenland. Co-developer with ZSL of the online game TrickyTrawling, which explore players' ability to make deep sea fishing more sustainable. Now Postdoctoral Research Associate, Zoological Society of London: Spatio-temporal trends in fisheries’ bycatch in the Celtic Sea.
Alix Green (finished 2020)- Understanding the drivers of carbon sequestration in contrasting seagrass ecosystems: Implications for regional seagrass conservation. Assessment of carbon fixing potential of seagrasses and governance analyses of MPAs as designations for Blue Carbon initiatives (primary supervisor) - UCL London NERC DTP. Papers: Green et al (2018 Open Access) Variability of UK seagrass sediment carbon: Implications for blue carbon estimates and marine conservation management; Green et al 2021 Open Access) Historical analysis exposes catastrophic seagrass loss for the United Kingdom. Now senior civil servant, HM Treasury.
Thuy Duong Khuu (finished 2019) - Reconciling biodiversity conservation with sustainable development: a case study of marine protected area governance in Vietnam (subsidiary supervisor) - Institute for Sustainable Resources, UCL; BHP Billiton scholarship. Papers: Khuu et al (2021) A Governance Analysis of Con Dao National Park, Vietnam; Khuu et al (2021) A governance analysis of two MPAs in Vietnam: Nha Trang Bay and Cu Lao Cham.
Holly Niner (finished 2019) - An analysis of cases and issues related to marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia (subsidiary supervisor, UCL Australia; BHP Billiton scholarship). Papers: Niner et al (2017) A global snapshot of marine biodiversity offsetting policy - Niner et al. (2017) Realising a vision of no net loss through marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia; Oceans Deeply news article on Holly's PhD research: Bait and Switch? Scientists Question Use of ‘Offsets’ in Ocean Projects; Niner & Randalls (2021) Good enough for governance? Audit and marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia; Niner et al. (2021) Exploring the practical implementation of marine biodiversity offsetting in Australia. Now Research/Knowledge Exchange Fellow: Social-Ecological Systems, University of Plymouth.
Matthew Fortnam (finished 2016) - Transformations of marine governance: an analysis of processes that change the trajectories of social-ecological systems, with a particular focus on coral reefs in the Philippines (primary supervisor; ESRC funded). Paper: Fortnam (2019) Forces opposing sustainability transformations: institutionalization of ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. Now Lead Researcher, Centre for Humanitarian Change.
Minsuk Jun (finished 2014) - An analysis of different perspectives on MPA designation processes in California (primary supervisor). Thesis. Now Senior Project Manager, Network Rail.
Christina Geijer (finished 2013) Connecting the nodes: an analysis of MPA networks for migratory whale conservation (primary supervisor). Abstract - Papers: Geijer and Jones (2015); Geijer et al. (2013).
Wanfei Qiu (finished 2010) Governing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in China: towards the repositioning of the central state and the empowerment of local communities (primary supervisor). Thesis - Papers: Qiu et al. (2009); Qiu (2013). Now Programme Manager (Marine Environment), Office of Environmental Management and Mineral Resources, International Seabed Authority, Kingston, Jamaica.
Tom Roberts (finished 2009) People and the Sea: building partnerships to manage European Marine Sites (primary supervisor, ESRC-CASE Studentship with Natural England). Thesis - Papers: Roberts and Jones (2009); Roberts and Jones (2013). Now Lecturer, University of Surrey.
Elizabeth De Santo (finished 2008) Offshore marine conservation in the North-East Atlantic: opportunities and challenges for the developing regime (primary supervisor). Thesis - Papers: De Santo and Jones (2007a); De Santo and Jones (2007b); De Santo (2013). Now Professor, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Peter Mackelworth (finished 2007) An analysis of issues concerning the designation and management of the Lošinj archipelago MPA, Croatia (primary supervisor). Thesis - Paper: Mackelworth et al. (2013). Now Conservation Director, Blue World, Croatia.

PhD's examined

Byrne A (2019) The origins, design and implementation of the UK Climate Change Act 2008. Department of Geography, UCL (internal examiner). Abstract & Thesis
González-Bernat MJ (2018) “Living with our backs to the sea”: Understanding marine and coastal governance in Guatemala. University of Western Australia (external examiner)
Chung HS (2015) Environmental justice and marine protected areas: developing environmental justice-based marine protected areas. Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Australia (external examiner)
Miller A (2014) Governance innovation networks for sustainable tuna. Centre for Marine Policy, Wageningen University (external examiner)
Abecasis R (2013) The human dimensions of marine protected area establishment in remote island settings: a case study in the Archipelago of the Azores. University of Western Australia (external examiner)
Carter C (2012) Tourism, conservation and development around a marine protected area in Kenya. Department of Anthropology, UCL (internal examiner). Abstract.
Kusakabe E (2011) Renascent social capital in Japanese communities: networks for building a sustainable society. The Bartlett School of Architecture, Building, Environmental Design & Planning, UCL (internal examiner)
Ponnampalam LS (2008) Ecological studies and conservation of small cetaceans in the Sultanate of Oman, with special reference to spinner dolphins, Stenella longirostris. Millport Marine Biological Station, University of London (internal examiner)
Leujak W (2006) Monitoring of coral communities in South Sinai with particular reference to visitor impacts. Millport Marine Biological Station, University of London (internal examiner)
Smith TF (2002) Australian estuary management: drivers and perspectives. University of New South Wales (external examiner)