SFU ocean equity researcher inducted into Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor is an applied resource economist working to increase benefits for coastal communities by advancing equity in marine industries across local shores and overseas.

This fall, Cisneros-Montemayor has been inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (RSC)’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, one of seven SFU scholars to be recognized by the RSC this year. Induction into the RSC is Canada’s highest academic honour.

RSC members are highly productive, multi-disciplinary researchers who work to advance knowledge across disciplines and represent the emerging generation of scholarly, academic and artistic leadership in Canada.

“It’s a huge honor to be a part of the RSC College, especially because the nominators and reviewers are all part of the College, so it’s a recognition by peers as much as the institution itself. I first came to Canada knowing that I was going into a place without my networks and friends, and this is just that, a new network of peers and friends,” says Cisneros-Montemayor.

Cisneros-Montemayor is an associate professor in SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management and director of the Ocean Equity Lab at SFU. He is also the deputy director of the Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Centre, one of the largest international research networks focused on advancing ocean equity, well-being and health in coastal communities around the world.

Working with industry stakeholders, from Indigenous and artisanal fisheries to policy makers, across developed and developing nations, Cisneros-Montemayor investigates the social, ecological and economic systems behind ocean and coastal industries to identify where the gaps in equity lie, and opportunities to support the implementation of a blue economy.

“Centering equity in ocean industries isn’t just a fringe ‘nice to have’ but an essential part of making ocean industries work at all. I think a lot of people today are quite aware that exploiting workers and harming the environment are terrible for everyone, not just those workers or the environment,” he says.

Through this work, Cisneros-Montemayor has put forward the first global estimates of the economic value of marine ecotourism and seafood consumption by coastal Indigenous communities. He has also contributed to advancing equity in international ocean policy, including co-authoring a report commissioned by the High Level Panel for A Sustainable Ocean Economy outlining practical pathways to center Indigenous knowledge in ocean governance.

His efforts to improve realities for coastal communities and advance the field of ocean and resource economics earned Cisneros-Montemayor an inaugural SFU Research Excellence Award last spring.

Earlier this year, Cisneros-Montemayor was also one of 7 scholars globally to receive a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to study the often-hidden inequities within global sustainable seafood supply chains.

“I think everyone feels a special relationship with the ocean and values people that depend on it fully for their livelihoods. Not everyone is always aware that these people often have to deal with very unfair challenges to their traditional ways of life, and my work is about making sure that they are recognized and prioritized even as we build new sustainable industries from the oceans,” says Cisneros-Montemayor.