She is a political ecologist whose research seeks to answer questions such as: How are decisions made about marine conservation? How do science and other kinds of knowledge inform these decisions? Who is involved in decision making and how do they influence the process? Who benefits and who is harmed by these decisions? The ultimate aim of her work is to support environmental conservation that is effective, equitable, and socially just. She has led or co-led projects focused on marine protected areas and ecotourism in Belize, the human dimensions of large-scale marine conservation (including work in Kiribati), and international conservation governance through the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international institutions (using an innovative methodology called ‘Collaborative Event Ethnography’).