Hillary Smith

I am an interdisciplinary social scientist whose research and teaching examine the
governance of commons, climate adaptation, diverse economies, and food systems. My
work focuses on marine and coastal systems, where I explore how individuals and
communities adapt to environmental and social change in these dynamic environments.
By taking a food systems approach, I examine coastal resilience from “bait to plate,”
highlighting everyday adaptations on and off the water. My work centers overlooked
actors and activities—especially the often-unrecognized contributions of women—in
shaping coastal livelihoods and resilience. This work has led me to study small-scale
fisheries across diverse geographies and social-ecological settings, including women
seaweed farmers in Zanzibar, fish processing and marketing cooperatives in Lake
Victoria, and lobstermen and oyster farmers in Maine.

As a research mentor, I am excited to engage students in hands-on, community-
centered social science research on coastal communities, food systems, and resilience.
This includes training students in data collection, management, analysis, and
communication. I often integrate real data and ongoing research into my courses to
demystify social science research for students. This often creates opportunities for
students to join my research projects or to pursue similar themes and methods in their
senior projects.

Before COA, I worked as a Research Assistant Professor of Marine Policy at the
University of Maine and as a consultant for the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO). At the FAO, I worked on implementing small-scale fisheries policy
for gender-equitable and climate-resilient food systems and livelihoods, which was also
the focus of my dissertation research.

• B.A. Anthropology and Geography, University of Florida                                      
• M.A. Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Ph.D. Marine Science and Conservation, Duke University

• Moulton, A.*, & Smith, H. (2026). Social infrastructures and diverse economies enable seafood access through southern Maine food assistance programs. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 10, 1851862.
• Smith, H., Advani, S., Suri, S. K., Amadu, I., Ahern, M., Lafuente, C. O., … & Partelow, S. (2026). Integrating blue foods into food system approaches and frameworks. Environmental Research: Food Systems, 3(2), 023001.
• Smith, H., Basurto, X., & St Martin, K. (2024). Enacting food system transformation through the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines. Maritime Studies, 23(1), 2.
• Rice, E. D., Gondwe, E., Bennett, A. E., Okanga, P. A., Osho‐Abdulgafar, N. F., Fakoya, K., … & Smith, H. (2024). The future of gender research in small‐scale fisheries: Priorities and pathways for advancing gender equity. Fish and Fisheries, 25(3), 401-408.
• Smith, H., Quintana, A., & Campbell, L. (2024). Are targets really SMART-er? Challenging assumptions behind global environmental policy goals to realize ocean equity. Maritime Studies, 23(3), 30.
• Hamilton, J., Basurto, X., Smith, H., Virdin, J. (2021). How does the World Bank shape global environmental governance agendas for coasts? 50 years of small-scale fisheries aid reveals paradigm shifts over time. Global Environmental Change, 68, 102246.
• Smith, H., Garcia Lozano, A., Baker, D., Choi, J., Hamilton, J., Blondin, H., Basurto, X., and Silliman, B. (2021). Ecology and the science of small-scale fisheries: A synthetic review of research effort for the Anthropocene. Biological Conservation, 254, 108895.
• Smith, H., & Basurto, X. (2019). Defining small-scale fisheries and examining the role of science in shaping perceptions of who and what counts: a systematic review. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6(236).
• Garcia Lozano, A., H. Smith, & X. Basurto (2017) Weaving governance narratives: discourses of climate change, cooperatives, and small-scale fisheries in Mexico. Maritime Studies, 18(1), 77-89.

*denotes student co-author