Congratulations to Ben Hurley, the 2024 recipient of the Knecht and Cicin-Sain Award in Marine Policy! Description below:
“The purpose of this annual award is to recognize the best contribution made by a School of Marine Science and Policy graduate student to the improvement of public policy on oceans at global, regional, national, or local levels. The award recognizes significant contributions made to advance good management and governance of the oceans through the application of marine policy analysis and the mobilization of multi-stakeholder perspectives in the public policy process. This award is named after CEOE Professor Robert W. Knecht, informally known as the “Father of Coastal Management,” who directed the implementation of the U.S. Coastal Zone Management Act (the first coastal act in the world) and co-directed the Center for Marine Policy (CMP) until his passing in 2001, and after CEOE Professor Biliana Cicin-Sain, co-director and subsequently director of the CMP (renamed the Gerard J. Mangone Center) until 2018, who made significant contributions in the promotion of integrated ocean policies around the world and, in particular, in advancing the global oceans agenda in the context of the United Nations. The award embodies the philosophy of both Professors Knecht and Cicin-Sain that the application of good analysis and the bringing together of multi-stakeholder insights from all relevant parties to improve public policy on oceans is of central importance in the marine policy field.”
Ben is studying the emerging aquaculture industry in the United States and will continue this work at Harvard Law School. Undeterred by the lack of organized data, Ben picked up new skills fearlessly on the fly to compile these data himself through document review, FOIA requests, and meticulous cleaning of GIS datasets from various sources. Given how unsettled the regulatory space around U.S. aquaculture permitting is, his study of the shellfish aquaculture permitting process under different regimes in Washington state has the potential to significantly advance the literature on this subject and inform future decision-making in other states, including Delaware.