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My research focuses on the drivers and mechanisms of change in global ocean governance. I employ theories and methods from International Relations, and collaborate with experts across borders and disciplines. My goal is to improve our understanding of the conditions of effective international cooperation in addressing shared ocean problems. |
Recent Research Awards
2022 - Editor's Choice article for International Affairs
2022 - Fulbright US Scholar Award for research and teaching at the University of Akureyri, Iceland
2021 - University of Rhode Island Early Career Faculty Research and Scholarship Excellence Award (Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities)
2020 - General Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award (junior division), sponsored by US Strategic Command
2022 - Fulbright US Scholar Award for research and teaching at the University of Akureyri, Iceland
2021 - University of Rhode Island Early Career Faculty Research and Scholarship Excellence Award (Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities)
2020 - General Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award (junior division), sponsored by US Strategic Command
Ocean Governance
My main research focuses on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and associated institutions.
Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “The Ocean Governance Regime: International Conventions and Institutions.” In Climate Change and Ocean Governance, edited by Paul G. Harris, 1st ed., 27–42. Cambridge University Press, 2019. Tirrell, Andrew and Elizabeth Mendenhall. "Cruise Ships, COVID-19, and Port/Flag State Obligations." Ocean Development and International Law, 2021. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Interpreting the Law of the Sea ‘Regime of Islands’: An Opportunity for Productive US Leadership.” Marine Policy 99 (January 2019): 213–15. Planetary Geopolitics
I focus on the interactions between technology, ecology, and geography at a planetary scale, and implications for the ocean governance regime.
Mendenhall, Elizabeth, Cullen Hendrix, Elizabeth Nyman, Paige M. Roberts, John Robison Hoopes, James R. Watson, Vicky W.Y. Lam, and U. Rashid Sumaila. “Climate Change Increases the Risk of Fisheries Conflict.” Marine Policy 117 (July 2020) **Winner of the 2020 General Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award** Mendenhall, Elizabeth. "Nuclear Weapons Free Zones and Contemporary Arms Control." Strategic Studies Quarterly vol. 14, no. 4 (Winter 2020) Rodriguez, Luis and Elizabeth Mendenhall, “Nuclear Weapons Free Zones and the issue of maritime transit in Latin America,” International Affairs (April 2022) Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Fluid Foundations: Ocean Transparency, Submarine Opacity, and Strategic Nuclear Stability.” Journal of Military and Strategic Studies 19, no. 1 (2018). Deudney, Daniel, and Elizabeth Mendenhall. “Green Earth: The Emergence of Planetary Civilization.” In New Earth Politics, edited by Simon Nicholson and Sikina Jinnah, 43–72. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016. Deudney, Daniel, and Elizabeth Mendenhall. “New Earths: Assessing Planetary Geographic Constructs.” In The Politics of Globality since 1945: Assembling the Planet, edited by Rens van Munster and Casper Sylvest. New International Relations. London New York, NY: Routledge, 2016. Global Commons
I explore international attempts to define, utilize, manage, and govern non-terrestrial spaces throughout human history.
Mendenhall, Elizabeth. "How the Pacific Protects its Fisheries," The Diplomat November 1, 2021. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Treating Outer Space Like a Place: A Case for Rejecting Other Domain Analogies.” Astropolitics 16, no. 2 (August 24, 2018): 97–118. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. Review of Arctic Governance: Power in Cross-Border Cooperation by Elana Wilson Rowe, for Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, vol. 32, no. 3 (July 2019): 582-584 Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “The Discursive Construction of the New Arctic.” In The Social Ecology of the Anthropocene: Continuity and Change in Global Environmental Politics, edited by Richard Matthew, Connor Harron, Kristen Goodrich, Benny Maharramli, and Evgenia Nizkorodov. New Jersey: World Scientific, 2016. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. Review of Consensus and Global Environment Governance: Deliberative Democracy in Nature’s Regime. Baber, Walter F., and Robert V. Bartlett. 2015. Global Environmental Politics 17, no. 4 (November 2017): 153–55. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Seamounts as Sites for Governance in the ‘Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.’” SAIS Review of International Affairs 36, no. 1 (2016): 61–73. |
Biodiversity Beyond National JurisdictionSeveral collaborative research projects analyze the negotiations for a new implementing agreement for UNCLOS, the 'Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction' instrument.
Mendenhall, Elizabeth, and Rebecca R. Helm. “When the ‘Best Available Science’ Is Not Good Enough: The Need for Supporting Scientific Research in the United Nations Treaty to Protect Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction.” Marine Policy 161 (March 2024) Mendenhall, Elizabeth, and Kahlil Hassanali. “The BBNJ Agreement and Liability.” Marine Policy 150 (April 2023) Tiller, Rachel, Elizabeth De Santo, Elizabeth Mendenhall, Elizabeth Nyman, and Ian Ralby. “Wealth Blindness beyond National Jurisdiction.” Marine Pollution Bulletin 151 (February 2020) De Santo, Elizabeth M., Elizabeth Mendenhall, Elizabeth Nyman, "A rush is on to mine the deep seabed, with effects on ocean life that aren't well understood." The Conversation (August 2020) De Santo, E.M., Á. Ásgeirsdóttir, A. Barros-Platiau, F. Biermann, J. Dryzek, L.R. Gonçalves, R.E. Kim, E. Mendenhall, R. Mitchell, E. Nyman, M. Scobie, K. Sun, R. Tiller, D.G. Webster, O. Young, “Protecting Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: An Earth System Governance Perspective.” Earth System Governance (July 2019) Series analyzing the BBNJ inter-governmental conferences: Tiller, Rachel, Elizabeth De Santo, Elizabeth Mendenhall, and Elizabeth Nyman. “The Once and Future Treaty: Towards a New Regime for Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction.” Marine Policy 99 (January 2019): 239–42. Mendenhall, Elizabeth, Elizabeth De Santo, Elizabeth Nyman, and Rachel Tiller. “A Soft Treaty, Hard to Reach: The Second Inter-Governmental Conference for Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction.” Marine Policy 108 (October 2019). De Santo, Elizabeth M., Elizabeth Mendenhall, Elizabeth Nyman, and Rachel Tiller. “Stuck in the Middle with You (and Not Much Time Left): The Third Intergovernmental Conference on Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction.” Marine Policy 117 (July 2020) Mendenhall, Elizabeth, Elizabeth De Santo, Mathis Jankila, Elizabeth Nyman, Rachel Tiller. “Direction, not detail: Progress towards consensus at the fourth intergovernmental conference on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,” Marine Policy 146 (December 2022) Tiller, Rachel, Elizabeth Mendenhall, Elizabeth De Santo, and Elizabeth Nyman. “Shake It Off: Negotiations Suspended, but Hope Simmering, after a Lack of Consensus at the Fifth Intergovernmental Conference on Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction.” Marine Policy 148 (February 2023) Mendenhall, Elizabeth, Rachel Tiller, and Elizabeth Nyman. “The Ship Has Reached the Shore: The Final Session of the ‘Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’ Negotiations.” Marine Policy 155 (September 2023) Tiller, Rachel, and Elizabeth Mendenhall. “And so It Begins – The Adoption of the ‘Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’ Treaty.” Marine Policy 157 (November 2023): 105836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105836. Plastic Pollution
The problem of marine plastic debris is a critical challenge to the ocean governance regime, but not one that the regime is prepared to address.
Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Making the Most of What We Already Have: Activating UNCLOS to Combat Marine Plastic Pollution.” Marine Policy 155 (September 2023): 105786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105786. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Building a Regime Complex for Marine Plastic Pollution.” Cambridge Prisms: Plastics 1 (2023): e12. https://doi.org/10.1017/plc.2023.12. Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Inequity Within Coordination: The Balloon Effect of Uncoordinated Plastic Production Restrictions.” In Towards and Equitable Approach to Marine Plastic Pollution, edited by Jessica Vandenberg and Yoshitaka Ota. Ocean Nexus, 2022. Mendenhall, Elizabeth, and Eliya M. Baron Lopez. “Solving the Oceans’ Plastic Problem.” Current History 119, no. 813 (January 2020). Mendenhall, Elizabeth. “Oceans of Plastic: A Research Agenda to Propel Policy Development.” Marine Policy 96 (October 2018): 291–98. |