About Kendra Karr

Kendra Karr

Senior Scientist II, Ocean Research & Development

Work

Areas of expertise:

Marine protected areas, ocean conservation, food systems, climate-resilient fisheries, data-limited scientific assessment (stocks and ecosystems) and adaptive management, ecosystem-based management, designing equitable management systems, effective governance for sustainable management, scaling successful solutions, designing behavioral science-based interventions for marine conservation problems

Description

Kendra is a senior scientist with the Oceans Science team, where she leads the regional science to help transform our blue food systems to be sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient through the application and scaling of science-based interventions. She conducts cutting-edge research that drives innovation in climate-resilient assessment and management of blue foods, resilient communities, and ecosystems. She advises EDF’s international and national teams on identifying local scientific knowledge gaps, building knowledge and capacity in diverse areas; and developing comprehensive fishery management approaches that result in better ecological, social, and economic outcomes. Kendra has collaboratively worked with fishery stakeholders in Belize, Chile, Cuba, Indonesia, Peru, Portugal, Mexico, Myanmar, the Philippines, and the United States Pacific Coast. She has had a lead role in the creation of many of the Oceans Program’s tools and resources, including the Framework for Integrated Stock and Habitat Evaluation (FISHE), EDFs step-by-step process that enables more fisheries in the transition to climate-resilient, adaptive science-based management.

Background

Research Associate, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California at Santa Cruz (2012- present)

Education

  • Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz
  • B.A., Environmental Studies (Agroecology), University of California at Santa Cruz
  • B.S., Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz

Publications

Eurich, J, K Karr + 31 co-authors. In press. Diverse pathways for climate resilience in marine fishery systems. Fish and Fisheries. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12790

Olivera-Espinosa, YM, Y Rodríguez-Cueto, F Pina-Amargós, F Arreguín-Sánchez, M J. Zetina-Rejón, K Karr, P del Monte-Luna. In review. Trends and environmental drivers of marine fish landings in Cuba’s most productive shelf area. ICES Journal of Marine Science.

Vogel JM, C Longo, J Spijkers, J Palacios-Abrantes, J Mason, C C.C. Wabnitz, W Cheung, U. R Sumaila, G Munro, S Glaser, J Bell, Y Tian, N L. S, E R. Selig, P Le Billon, J R. Watson, C Hendrix, M L. Pinsky, I van Putten, K Karr, E A. Papaioannou, R Fujita.  2023. Drivers of conflict and resilience in shifting transboundary fisheries. Marine Policy, V 155: 105740.

Carroll, G., Eurich, J. G., Sherman, K. D., Glazer, R., Braynen, M. T., Callwood, K. A., Castañeda, A., Dahlgren, C., Karr, K. A., Kleisner, K. M., Poon, S. E., Requena, N., Sho, V., Tate, S. N., & Haukebo, S. (2023). A participatory climate vulnerability assessment for recreational tidal flats fisheries in Belize and The Bahamas. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, 1177715.

Kleisner, KM, E Ojea, W Battista, M Burden, E Cunningham, R Fujita, K Karr, S Amorós, J Mason, D Rader, N Rovegno, A Thomas-Smyth. (2022). Identifying policy approaches to build social–ecological resilience in marine fisheries with differing capacities and contexts. ICES J. Mar. Sci.79(2): 552–572.

UNCTAD and DOALOS (Karr K, primary author and thought leader). 2022. Toward a climate resilient multispecies finfish management plan for Belize. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Geneva, Switzerland, and New York, United States. 

Karr, K. A. and +15 others. 2021. Identifying Pathways for Climate-Resilient Multispecies Fisheries. Front. Mar. Sci. 8, 1–22.

Landesberg, CJ, LE Dee, K. Karr, DJ Thornhill. 2019. Assessing Vulnerability of Fish in the Marine Aquarium Trade. Frontiers in Marine Science 5, 527.

Donovan, M, and 15 others. 2018. Integrating fish and benthic communities for a new understanding of coral reef regimes. Nature Scientific Reports 8 (1), 1-11.

Puga R, Valle S, Kritzer JP, Delgado D, Estela de León M, Giménez E, Ramos I, Moreno O, K Karr. 2018. Spatial variation in vulnerability of nearshore tropical finfish: implications for science and management planning. Bulletin of Marine Science: Special Issue on Cuban Marine Ecology and Conservation. Bulletin of Marine Science 94 (2), 377-392

McDonald, G, SJ Campbell, K Karr, M Clemence, P Granados-Dieseldorff, R Jakub, T Kartawijaya, J Mueller, P Prihatinningsih, K Siegel. 2018. An adaptive assessment and management toolkit for data-limited fisheries. Ocean & Coastal Management: 152, 100-119.

Miller, A Mirabal-Patterson, E García-Rodríguez, K Karr, D Whittle. 2018. The SOS Pesca Project: A Multinational and Intersectoral Collaboration for Sustainable Fisheries, Marine Conservation and Improved Quality of Life in Coastal Communities. MEDICC Review 20 (2): 65-70.

Karr KA and 25 others. 2017. Integrating science and governance to improve the performance of small-scale fisheries. Frontiers in Marine Science: Special Issue for International Marine Conservation Congress. 4, 345.

Hughes, BB, and 25 others. 2017. Long-term studies contribute disproportionately to ecology and policy. BioScience 67:271-281.

Battista, W, K Karr, N. Sarto, and R Fujita. 2017. Comprehensive Assessment of Risk to Ecosystems (CARE): A cumulative ecosystem risk assessment tool. Fisheries Research 185: 115-129.

Fujita, R, L Epstein, W Battista, K Karr, P Higgins, J Landman, R Carcamo. 2017. Scaling territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) in Belize. Bulletin of Marine Science 93 (1): 137-153.

McDonald, G, B Harford, A Arrivillaga, EA Babcock, R Carcamo, J Foley, R Fujita, T Gedamke, J Gibson„ K Karr, J Robinson, and J Wilson. 2017. An indicator-based adaptive management framework and its development for data-limited fisheries in Belize. Marine Policy: 76, 28–37.