Dr. Jessica Vandenberg is an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rhode Island. Drawing on political ecology, critical social sciences and multi-modal ethnographic methods, her research explores questions of power, knowledge, and equity related to ocean governance. Her research focuses on the rise of corporate environmental governance and technological solutionism in conservation and environmental management, but also explores paths towards decolonizing environmental governance that prioritize diverse ways of knowing, reflexive and relational thinking, and naturecultural relations. Her dissertation research examined the human dimensions of a corporate-led coral reef restoration program implemented in a small island community in Indonesia and how colonial legacies and ongoing neoliberal forces in the region influence local experiences of restoration outcomes. Her current work examines the involvement of corporations in the global governance of plastic pollution and the material and discursive effects of this influence.

When she is not working, Jessica enjoys being out in the ocean either surfing, fishing, or boating around the salt ponds of Rhode Island. She is also an avid pickle baller!