ZMT - Leibniz Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung

Research interests

I am a marine environmental scientist working at the intersection of species conservation, wildlife trade, environmental policy, and sustainable resource management. As a doctoral candidate at ZMT, my research focuses on the governance of the marine ornamental fish trade in Indonesia - a complex but data-poor trade that links tropical coral reefs and coastal fishing communities with aquariums and consumers in Europe, Asia, and North America. I explore how access to resources, markets, and knowledge shapes governance outcomes across different levels of the supply chain: who controls collection, trade, breeding, monitoring, and decision-making, and how formal and informal rules structure these conditions. By comparing different governance contexts across Indonesia, I ask under what conditions this trade can become more sustainable and equitable, particularly for collectors and the coastal communities who depend on it.

More broadly, I am interested in (marine) wildlife trade and in how conservation can be designed to be both ecologically meaningful and socially just. I am especially drawn to approaches that do not treat local communities merely as a source of pressure on nature, but recognise their knowledge, needs, and role as resource managers.