Mike McGinnis

Title

Profile

B.A. University of California, Los Angeles
M.A. University of California, Santa Barbara
Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara. Political Science

Dr. Michael Vincent McGinnis was Director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Center at the University of California Santa Barbara from 1995-2010. He has published over 40 articles in peer reviewed journals on the subject of large-scale environmental policymaking.  He has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in environmental policy, coastal marine policy, environmental ethics, public policy analysis, public administration, the public service, and a range of other courses.  From 1993-2000, his research funded by three awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation focused on the role of worldviews, values, beliefs and science in the development of watershed-based planning, river basin management and ecological restoration across the west coast of the US.  From 1999-2008, he was the lead consultant and advisor to state and federal resource agencies in the development of coastal marine ecosystem-based planning and policy in California, and worked extensively on the designation of marine protected areas or MPAs for the northern Channel Islands offshore southern California.  The MPAs associated with the northern Channel Islands are currently the largest network of protected areas associated with the US exclusive economic zone.  In 2006, he developed a plan for the Chumash Nation, an indigenous maritime culture in southern California, to develop the only demonstration village and restoration area along the coast.  In 2008, he was a Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of Montenegro, and conducted research on coastal marine ecosystems and policies associated with the Mediterranean Sea.  In 2009, he received support from the European Commission to complete a comparative study of coastal marine ecosystem-based planning in California, US, and the Euro-Mediterranean region. From 2008 – 2010, he was a member of the California Oil Platform Decommissioning Expert Advisory Committee for the California Ocean Science Trust.  From 2008-2010, he completed two studies for municipal governments in southern California that emphasized the development of adaptive policy and coastal land-use plans to address biodiversity loss due to climate disturbance. 

Research Interests

Mike’s primary research emphasizes the role of science and values in the development of large-scale ecosystem policies and programs, with a particular focus on islands, coastal and marine areas, and major watersheds.  He has also conducted research on energy policy development, such as offshore oil and gas activities, nuclear energy, and hydropower development.  More recently, Mike’s research has been on the development of local and regional policies and programs to address and respond to the expected impacts from climate disturbance on coastal marine biodiversity.  He is also interested in pursuing comparative research and policy analysis that includes studies of watershed-based planning activity, the designation of marine protected areas, indigenous and industrialized maritime culture, and adaptive climate policy in coastal areas across the Pacific Ocean.  He is editor of Bioregionalism (Routledge, 1999) and a number of other articles, book chapters, essays and conference proceedings.  He is currently completing a book tentatively entitled Negotiating Ecology: Case studies on politics & ecology.

Selected conference papers and publications

The Importance of Planning for Climate Change Refugia. Endangered Species Update. Forthcoming.

Developing Adaptive Policy to Climate Disturbance in Santa Barbara County, California. White Paper produced by UC Santa Barbara’s Ocean and Coastal Policy Center. 2009. http://ocpc.msi.ucsb.edu/pdfs/ClimateDisturbanceRpt.pdf

Addressing Biodiversity Loss in a Changing Climate: The Significance of Coastal Marine Ecosystem-based Policy in the European Union, the United States, and California.
The European Commission (DG External Relations) Program on Transatlantic Methods for Handling Global Challengs. Managing Biosafety and Biodiversity in a Global World EU, US, California and Comparative Perspectives. 2009. http://www.biosafetyandbiodiversity.eu/publications/mcginnis_final.pdf

Co-author, Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the establishment of marine reserves and a marine conservation area in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Marine Sanctuaries Program.

Negotiating ecology: marine bioregions and the Southern California Bight. Futures 38, 3 (Spring 2006): 1-24.

The Politics of Marine Ecosystem Management: the Case of the Channel Islands. In O. T. Magoon et al. California and the World Ocean ’02: Revisiting and Revising California’s Ocean Agenda. Pp. 1200-1214. Reston, Virginia: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2005.

The California Watershed Movement: Science and the Politics of Place. Natural Resources Journal 42, 1 (Winter 2002): 133-183 (with Woolley).

The Conflicting Discourses of Restoration. Society and Natural Resources 13 (2000): 339-357 (with Woolley).

Bioregional Conflict Resolution: Rebuilding Community in Watershed-based Planning and Organizing. Environmental Management 24, 1 (1999): 1-12 (with Woolley and J.K. Gamman).
Book [Editor and Contributor], Bioregionalism. London and New York: Routledge, 1999.  http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/search.asp

Editor, Special Journal Symposium on Watershed Policy. Policy Studies Journal 27, 3 (September 1999): 497-598. 

The Politics of Watershed Policymaking: Three Cases Compared (with Woolley). Policy Studies Journal 27, 3 (September 1999): 578-598.

The Discourses in Restoration. Restoration and Management Notes 15, 1 (Summer 1997): 74-77 (With Woolley).

On the Verge of Collapse: The Columbia River System, Wild Salmon and the Northwest Power Planning Council. Natural Resources Journal 35, 1 (1995): 63-92.