Bio


Joy is interested in understanding how kelp forests and mangroves respond to simultaneous anthropogenic pressures and how to increase effectiveness of marine protected areas. She is passionate about useful, transdisciplinary research that increases the wellbeing of people through the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. Using her skillset in GIS, her previous work focused on marine conservation of coastal ecosystems, spanning valuing carbon stocks within Mexico to developing metrics quantifying the extent of area-based conservation. Additionally, she worked for IPBES at the science-policy interface implementing data management within international assessments focused on biodiversity and ecosystem services. When not at her desk, she likes to be out in nature or embroidering on her couch.

Lab Affiliations


All Publications


  • Biological invasions on Indigenous peoples' lands NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Seebens, H., Niamir, A., Essl, F., Garnett, S. T., Kumagai, J. A., Molnar, Z., Saeedi, H., Meyerson, L. A. 2024
  • Head in the clouds, feet on the ground: how transdisciplinary learning can foster transformative change-insights from a summer school BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Atienza Casas, S., Calicis, C., Candiago, S., Dendoncker, N., Desair, J., Fickel, T., Finne, E., Frison, C., Haensel, M., Hinsch, M., Kulfan, T., Kumagai, J. A., Mialyk, O., Nawrath, M., Nevzati, F., Washbourne, C., Wuebbelmann, T. 2023
  • Sediment depth and accretion shape belowground mangrove carbon stocks across a range of climatic and geologic settings LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY Costa, M. T., Ezcurra, E., Ezcurra, P., Salinas-de-Leon, P., Turner, B., Kumagai, J., Leichter, J., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2022; 67: S104-S117

    View details for DOI 10.1002/lno.12241

    View details for Web of Science ID 000870722600001

  • Habitat Protection Indexes-new monitoring measures for the conservation of coastal and marine habitats SCIENTIFIC DATA Kumagai, J. A., Favoretto, F., Pruckner, S., Rogers, A. D., Weatherdon, L. V., Aburto-Oropeza, O., Niamir, A. 2022; 9 (1): 203

    Abstract

    A worldwide call to implement habitat protection aims to halt biodiversity loss. We constructed an open-source, standardized, and reproducible workflow that calculates two indexes to monitor the extent of coastal and marine habitats within protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. The Local Proportion of Habitats Protected Index (LPHPI) pinpoints the jurisdictions with the greatest opportunity to expand their protected or conserved areas, while the Global Proportion of Habitats Protected Index (GPHPI) showcases which jurisdictions contribute the most area to the protection of these habitats globally. We also evaluated which jurisdictions have the highest opportunity to contribute globally to protecting habitats by meeting a target of 30% coverage. We found that Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) have the greatest potential to do so. Our workflow can also be easily extended to terrestrial and freshwater habitats. These indexes are helpful to monitor aspects of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the emerging post-2020 global biodiversity framework, to understand the current status of international cooperation on coastal and marine habitats conservation.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41597-022-01296-4

    View details for Web of Science ID 000794900700003

    View details for PubMedID 35551469

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9098915

  • Diving tourism in Mexico - Economic and conservation importance MARINE POLICY Arcos-Aguilar, R., Favoretto, F., Kumagai, J. A., Jimenez-Esquivel, V., Martinez-Cruz, A. L., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2021; 126
  • Driven by Drones: Improving Mangrove Extent Maps Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing REMOTE SENSING Hsu, A. J., Kumagai, J., Favoretto, F., Dorian, J., Martinez, B., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2020; 12 (23)

    View details for DOI 10.3390/rs12233986

    View details for Web of Science ID 000597530800001

  • Prioritizing mangrove conservation across Mexico to facilitate 2020 NDC ambition AMBIO Kumagai, J. A., Costa, M. T., Ezcurra, E., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2020; 49 (12): 1992-2002

    Abstract

    There is a scale mismatch between mangrove conservation and carbon emission mitigation policies despite mangroves contributing disproportionally to global carbon sequestration. Using Mexico as a case study in the integration of these scales, we estimate mangrove carbon value and deforestation rates at the municipio (local government) scale and develop a prioritization model that indicates where to focus conservation efforts. By using previously published global models of carbon stocks, Mexico-specific carbon sequestration data, and calculating gross deforestation, we found that the current rate of deforestation will result in a social cost of 392.0 (± 7.4) million US$ over the next 25 years. The prioritization model identified 26 municipios of 175, where if all mangroves are conserved, 50% of this cost could be avoided. Bridging the gap between research and governmental action using local initiatives will be paramount for the effective management of mangrove carbon.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s13280-020-01334-8

    View details for Web of Science ID 000525475100001

    View details for PubMedID 32279285

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7568728