Bio


Josheena is an André Hoffmann Fellow at the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions and the World Economic Forum. Her current work is focused on centering blue justice and equity for ocean innovations in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. Her community-engaged research has focused on climate change adaptation, marine protected area management, disaster impacts and recovery, and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage in ocean governance. She has a keen interest in understanding people-ocean connections and how they influence coastal livelihoods, local environmental stewardship, and food security.

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 the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) at 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 presently a national steering committee member of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 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 is an André Hoffmann Fellow at the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions and the World Economic Forum Centre. Her current work is focused on centering blue justice and equity for ocean innovations in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. Her community-engaged research has focused on climate change adaptation, marine protected area management, disaster impacts and recovery, and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage in ocean governance. She has a keen interest in understanding people-ocean connections and how they influence coastal livelihoods, local environmental stewardship, and food security.

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 the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) at 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 presently a national steering committee member of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Mauritius, where she continues to support community-led efforts for sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation.

All Publications


  • 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