The Human Dimension of Marine Reserves

Date: October 9, 2007
Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5725

Christopher LaFranchi, a social scientist with Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, will be the speaker for the October “From Shore to Sea” lecture. LaFranchi will discuss socioeconomic monitoring of marine reserves and share the preliminary results of a recent study of boating activities in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Park. 

LaFranchi has been conducting a multi-year study in collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to document boater use patterns, boater activities such as diving, fishing, and kayaking and economic impacts.  This research will assess how boaters are responding to marine reserves designated in 2003 and will be valuable to inform policy decisions which account for the interests of boaters.
 
LaFranchi, a Social Science Program Coordinator for Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary,  earned a masters degree in resource economics from the University of Hawaii and a bachelors degree in biology from Oregon State University. He has 15 years of experience working in more than five countries on understanding how natural resource management decisions affect communities both socially and economically. He is also the founder of NaturalEquity (www.natuaralequity.com), an independent and non-partisan organization that informs sustainable use and stewardship of natural resources with scientifically rigorous research.

The “From Shore to Sea” lecture series is jointly sponsored by Channel Islands National Park, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and Santa Barbara Maritime Museum in an effort to further the understanding of research on the Channel Islands and surrounding waters. The lectures occur at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 9, 2007, at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum at 113 Harbor Way in Santa Barbara Harbor and Wednesday, October 10, 2007, at the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center located at 1901 Spinnaker Drive in the Ventura Harbor. The programs are free and open to the public.