Center has international impact on marine policy research

What do Jamaica, the Maltese Islands and Delaware have in common? They are just some of the locales where Biliana Cicin-Sain, director of the College's Center for the Study of Marine Policy, and her students are working to protect a valuable but often underappreciated natural resource--a coastal area teeming with life and activity.

The Center participates in a global consortium that is working to establish policies to manage and protect marine and coastal environments. The Center's office, consisting of a few rooms on the third floor of Robinson Hall on the Newark campus, belies its importance in marine policy research.

The Center was established in 1973 by then-University President E. A. Trabant and Gerard J. Mangone, University Research Professor of International and Maritime Law. It was the first center at an American university to study the legal, political and economic issues facing the ocean, seabed and coastal zone.

"The 1970s saw an increasing interest in ocean affairs as a result of deep-sea drilling, territorial issues and environmental concerns," Mangone, who was director of the Center until 1989, says. "The creation of the Center provided an opportunity to focus research on marine policy, which up until that time had received very little attention."

Rapid development and increasing use have put pressure on coastal areas throughout the world. More than 5 million people--about seven times the state's population--flock to the Delaware coast every year. Tourism, boating and fishing are just a few of the activities that occur in coastal areas, providing a tremendous boost to their economies.

Although it is easy to see the importance of the coast in terms of economics and as a place of recreation, it also has more hidden attributes. For example, the Delaware Bay is home to the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world. Not only do their eggs provide fuel to shorebirds that migrate north to Arctic nesting grounds each spring, but a compound in the crab's blood is used by the pharmaceutical industry to test intravenous drugs. However, rapid human development in coastal areas is threatening the delicate balance of these regions.

"Before the 20th century, the oceans were used principally for navigation and fishing," Cicin-Sain says. "Because conflicts between these uses were few, fisheries could be managed separately from coastal navigation.

"However, the oceans are now being used for a host of other activities that are capable of affecting one another. If marine policy is implemented without addressing the many factors that may be related to an individual issue, then it is possible to create an entirely new and different set of problems."

These issues are being faced by more than 100 countries that have coastlines, many of which work with the Center to develop management policies that will protect and preserve the environment while supporting the growth of human activities.

"Everybody wants a clean and beautiful ocean, but how is that best achieved?" Cicin-Sain asks. "Here at the Center, we use an approach known as integrated coastal management, where tourists, environmentalists, residents, business owners and decision-makers work together to develop policies that will minimize any potential conflicts."

An active participant at the local, national and international levels, the Center recently prepared an analysis of emerging ocean issues for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Cicin-Sain, a professor in the Marine Policy Program with joint appointments in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, also has been named to the Science Advisory Panel of the new U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. (See article on page 51.) Her book, The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy: Choices for the New Century (Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 2000), has been called "the ultimate guide to the emerging debate on national ocean governance."

Center scholars also assist other countries in developing policies and assessing coastal management practices. The Center has organized several exchange programs that draw international students and scholars to the College to share ideas and compare approaches to coastal management.

Two recently initiated exchange programs, with Brazil and Jamaica, will involve joint courses and exchanges of faculty and students and also will promote governmental collaboration. In Jamaica, for example, the program's objective is to address environmental issues, including coastal water pollution and reef degradation, that are linked to increased tourism in the Caribbean.

The Center also is involved in organizing international meetings, such as the recent Global Conference on Oceans and Coasts at Rio+10. (See related article on next page.)

"These conferences and workshops are important in promoting dialogue among high-level policy-makers in the area of coastal management," Cicin-Sain says. "In addition, they provide valuable contacts and information to the students who study and work at the Center."

Students who pursue graduate studies with Cicin-Sain have an opportunity to earn a doctorate in marine policy at one of the few institutions in the country to offer this degree. In addition, they are able to play a leading role in the Center's activities, gaining valuable hands-on experience.

"In just over a year of being a research assistant at the Center, I have been able to travel internationally on several occasions," Kevin Goldstein, AS '99, a master's degree candidate in marine policy, says. "One of the more interesting destinations was Malta, a small island nation in the Mediterranean, where I was able to work alongside government officials and academics."

Goldstein currently is working with the Jamaican government to implement a Blue Flag Program, designed to rate beaches for their environmental quality and safety.

"The marine policy program at UD offered me an interesting chance to combine my writing skills with my background in environmental science and geography," says Goldstein, who hopes to continue his research in the areas of sustainable coastal and marine tourism after graduation. "This allows me not only to interact with the scientific community, but also to do a fair amount of writing about my research and studies."

The Center attracts students from all over the world. Gonzalo Cid, a native of Chile, and Miriam Balgos, a native of the Philippines, both chose UD for their graduate studies in marine policy.

"My original background is in science," says Cid, a doctoral candidate who is evaluating how free-trade agreements may affect a country's institutional structures, policy decisions and coastal management programs. "I am a marine biologist with a master's degree in oceanography, but I was always curious about what is beyond the science. I wanted to be involved in the step from science to decision-making and management."

Balgos, who received her doctoral degree this year, evaluated coastal management programs in the Philippines for her dissertation. "With a master's degree in marine biology from the University of the Philippines, I already had a good background in the science side of marine studies," she says. "At UD, I was able to broaden and enhance my skills by doing research on coastal management."

The Center's alumni and other graduates of the Marine Policy Program can be found in the environmental and ocean ministries of such nations as China and New Zealand and teaching at universities in a variety of countries. Other graduates work in organizations that help promote best management practices for coastal resources on the national and global levels.

Indu Hewawasam, who received her doctorate in August 2000, praises the Center. She is a senior environmental specialist with the World Bank, which provides development assistance to countries around the world.

"The Center has been a pioneer globally in interpreting and analyzing coastal management concepts and practices," Hewawasam says. "The research I conducted through the Center has been instrumental in my ability to start and implement coastal management programs in Africa. In many areas of Africa, officials are struggling with problems such as destruction of natural habitats and overfishing as a direct result of increasing development in coastal areas."

"Participating in projects and attending conferences provided me with personal contacts that I carry with me wherever I may work," says Evelia Rivera-Arriaga, a researcher and teacher at the Center for Ecology, Fisheries and Oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico at the University of Campeche, Mexico.

Rivera-Arriaga came to the College of Marine Studies in 1997 and received her doctorate in marine policy this summer. "Having the opportunity to be involved in discussions with so many professionals and students from different countries, institutions and backgrounds helped orient me and taught me much more than any other experience I have ever had," she says.

--Kari Gulbrandsen