Becca Horan (she/her/hers) is a Ph.D. student in the Marine Science and Conservation program at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and is based at Duke’s Marine Lab. Her research interests center on finding equitable and inclusive solutions to secure coastal fishing livelihoods and well-being in collaboration with coastal communities, NGOs, academic and governmental institutions. In particular, she wants to know what adaptive capacity coastal communities need to increase their resilience to shocks (e.g., intensifying storms, flooding, overfishing, marine conservation measures, pandemics, loss of tourism, etc.). And how the delivery of those resources, training, technology, etc. for adaptive capacity can better meet the needs of women and marginalized groups (e.g., caste, religion, age, class).
Becca holds a BA from Connecticut College in Environmental Studies with a Certificate from the Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., she held a variety of positions in conservation and development, including supporting Rare’s global Fish Forever program (2016-2019), Save the Elephants’ and Wildlife Connection’s human-elephant conflict programs in Kenya and Tanzania (2015-2016), Mass Audubon’s shorebird monitoring program (2014) and Vineyard Power’s community-owned renewable energy cooperative (2013). Becca looks forward to continuing her work with coastal communities since she is happiest when living by the beach (even if she is struggling to learn how to surf). When not exploring the outdoors, she enjoys finding compelling storytellers, be they on live music or theatrical stages, podcasts, documentaries, or in personal conversations.
email: rebecca.horan@duke.edu