Bio


Josheena is the Blue Food Futures Program Manager at the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions. Previously, she was an André Hoffmann Ocean Innovation Fellow at the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions and the World Economic Forum. Her work focused on supporting local blue food innovation and community inclusion in blue carbon initiatives for the Blue Carbon Action Partnership.

Her community-engaged research focuses on small-scale fisheries, disaster impacts and recovery, marine protected area management, and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage in ocean governance. She has a keen interest in understanding people-ocean connections and how that influences pro-ecological behavior and local environmental stewardship.

She is also an IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) fellow on the Transformative Change Assessment, investigating the determinants of transformative change and pathways for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.

Josheena holds a Ph.D. in Environment and Resources from Stanford University. Her doctoral work aimed to support ocean governance in the Western Indian Ocean, with a focus on the Republic of Mauritius, her home country. She is a founding member of the newly created Africa-Europe Group on Ocean Governance and the Blue Economy and the chairperson of the national steering committee of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in Mauritius, where she continues to support community-led efforts for sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation.

Stanford Advisors


Current Research and Scholarly Interests


Josheena's community-engaged research focuses on small-scale fisheries, disaster impacts and recovery, marine protected area management, and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage in ocean governance. She has a keen interest in understanding people-ocean connections and how that influences pro-ecological behavior and local environmental stewardship.

All Publications


  • COVID-19 highlights the need to improve resilience and equity in managing small-scale fisheries. npj ocean sustainability Mangubhai, S., Olguín-Jacobson, C., Charles, A., Cinner, J., de Vos, A., Graham, R. T., Ishimura, G., Mills, K. E., Naggea, J., Okamoto, D. K., O'Leary, J. K., Salomon, A. K., Rashid Sumaila, U., White, A., Micheli, F. 2024; 3 (1): 61

    Abstract

    The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of global and domestic seafood markets. We examined the main impacts and responses of the small-scale fisheries (SSF) sector, and found that mitigation and preparedness strategies should be prioritised to boost resilience in SSF. We provide five policy options and considerations: (1) improving access to insurance and financial services; (2) strengthening local and regional markets and supporting infrastructure; (3) recognising fisheries as an essential service; (4) integrating disaster risk management into fisheries management systems; and (5) investing in Indigenous and locally-led fisheries management. Response and recovery measures need to explicitly build strategies to maintain or boost inclusion and equity in SSF.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s44183-024-00100-7

    View details for PubMedID 39711875

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11659175

  • Advancing ocean equity at the nexus of development, climate and conservation policy. Nature ecology & evolution Claudet, J., Blythe, J., Gill, D. A., Bennett, N. J., Gurney, G. G., Evans, L., Mahajan, S. L., Turner, R. A., Ahmadia, G. N., Ban, N. C., Epstein, G., Jupiter, S. D., Lau, J., Mangubhai, S., Zafra-Calvo, N., Lazzari, N., Baggio, J. A., Bernard, M. L., Brun, V., D'Agata, S., Di Franco, A., Horan, R., Naggea, J. 2024

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41559-024-02417-5

    View details for PubMedID 38744940

    View details for PubMedCentralID 8629164

  • Effects of management objectives and rules on marine conservation outcomes. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology Ban, N. C., Darling, E. S., Gurney, G. G., Friedman, W., Jupiter, S. D., Lestari, W. P., Yulianto, I., Pardede, S., Tarigan, S. A., Prihatiningsih, P., Mangubhai, S., Naisilisili, W., Dulunaqio, S., Naggea, J., Ranaivoson, R., Agostini, V. N., Ahmadia, G., Blythe, J., Campbell, S. J., Claudet, J., Cox, C., Epstein, G., Estradivari, E., Fox, M., Gill, D., Himes-Cornell, A., Jonas, H., Mcleod, E., Muthiga, N. A., McClanahan, T. 2023

    Abstract

    Understanding the relative effectiveness and enabling conditions of different area-based management tools is essential for supporting efforts that achieve positive biodiversity outcomes as area-based conservation coverage increases to meet newly set international targets. We used data from a coastal social-ecological monitoring program in six Indo-Pacific countries to analyze whether social, ecological, and economic objectives and specific management rules (temporal closures, fishing gear-, species-specific restrictions) were associated with coral reef fish biomass above sustainable yield levels across different types of area-based management tools (i.e., comparing those designated as marine protected areas (MPAs) to other types of area-based management). We found that all categories of objectives, multiple combinations of rules, and all types of area-based management had some sites that were able to sustain high levels of reef fish biomass - a key measure for coral reef health - compared to reference sites with no area-based management. Yet the same management types also had sites with low biomass. As governments advance their commitments to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the target to conserve 30% of the planet's land and oceans by 2030, we show that while different types of management can be effective, most of the managed areas in our study regions did not meet IUCN criteria for effectiveness. These findings underscore the importance of strong management and governance of managed areas, and the need to measure the ecological impact of area-based management rather than counting areas because of their designation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/cobi.14156

    View details for PubMedID 37728514

  • A comparative case study of multistakeholder responses following oil spills in Pointe d'Esny, Mauritius, and Huntington Beach, California ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY Naggea, J., Miller, R. K. 2023; 28 (1)
  • Rare coral and reef fish species status, possible extinctions, and associated environmental perceptions in Mauritius CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE McClanahan, T., Munbodhe, V., Naggea, J., Muthiga, N., Bhagooli, R. 2021

    View details for DOI 10.1111/csp2.527

    View details for Web of Science ID 000692686300001

  • Biodiversity needs every tool in the box: use OECMs Comment NATURE Gurney, G. G., Darling, E. S., Ahmadia, G. N., Agostini, V. N., Ban, N. C., Blythe, J., Claudet, J., Epstein, G., Estradivari, Himes-Cornell, A., Jonas, H. D., Armitage, D., Campbell, S. J., Cox, C., Friedman, W. R., Gill, D., Lestari, P., Mangubhai, S., McLeod, E., Muthiga, N. A., Naggea, J., Ranaivoson, R., Wenger, A., Yulianto, I., Jupiter, S. D. 2021; 595 (7869): 646-649

    View details for Web of Science ID 000677754600003

    View details for PubMedID 34312552

  • How adaptive capacity shapes the Adapt, React, Cope response to climate impacts: insights from small-scale fisheries CLIMATIC CHANGE Green, K. M., Selgrath, J. C., Frawley, T. H., Oestreich, W. K., Mansfield, E. J., Urteaga, J., Swanson, S. S., Santana, F. N., Green, S. J., Naggea, J., Crowder, L. B. 2021; 164 (1-2)
  • The impact of environmental change on small-scale fishing communities: moving beyond adaptive capacity to community response PREDICTING FUTURE OCEANS: SUSTAINABILITY OF OCEAN AND HUMAN SYSTEMS AMIDST GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE Oestreich, W. K., Frawley, T. H., Mansfield, E. J., Green, K. M., Green, S. J., Naggea, J., Selgrath, J. C., Swanson, S. S., Urteaga, J., White, T. D., Crowder, L. B., CisnerosMontemayor, A. M., Cheung, W. W., Ota, Y. 2019: 271–82
  • Triple exposure: Reducing negative impacts of climate change, blue growth, and conservation on coastal communities ONE EARTH Gill, D. A., Blythe, J., Bennett, N., Evans, L., Brown, K., Turner, R. A., Baggio, J. A., Baker, D., Ban, N. C., Brun, V., Claudet, J., Darling, E., Di Franco, A., Estradivari, Epstein, G., Gray, N. J., Gurney, G. G., Horan, R. P., Jupiter, S. D., Lau, J. D., Lazzari, N., Lestari, P., Mahajan, S. L., Mangubhai, S., Naggea, J., Selig, E. R., Whitney, C. K., Zafra-Calvo, N., Muthiga, N. A. 2023; 6 (2): 118-130