Scholars
Steven Mana'oakamai Johnson
Cornell University
Based in
United States
Oceana
Dr. Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson (he/him/’o ia) is Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) human-environment geographer. His research concerns how coastal communities relate to the ocean environment and how climate change alters that relationship. Through collaboration with community partners, his work assesses how social-ecological systems – in the form of ecosystem dynamics, traditional ecological knowledge, and natural resource governance – shape climate vulnerability and adaptation responses. Dr. Johnson is currently an assistant professor of natural resources and the environment at Cornell University. His research is inspired by his upbringing on the island of Saipan in Micronesia and his kuleana (cultural responsibility) to care for the planet for future generations.
Country(ies) of Specialty
United States Micronesia, Federated States ofFocus areas of expertise
Climate Justice Scientific assessments Indigenous studiesHow to Connect
Publications
Articles
Villagomez, Angelo et al. “Study Protected Waters Newly Opened up to Fishing.” Nature, vol. 644, 2025, p. 611.
Laursen, Scott et al. “Empowering Long-Term, Relational Research Pathways: Innovation and Adaptation at the Speed of Trust within More-Than-Human and Human Communities.” Emotion, Space and Society, vol. 56, 2025, doi:10.1016/j.emospa.2025.101109.
Villagomez, Angelo and Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson. “Disavowing the Doctrine of Discovery: Indigenous Healing, Decolonization, and Implications for Environmental Justice in the Pacific Remote Islands Area.” Environmental Justice, 2024, doi:10.1089/env.2023.0048.
Sullivan-Stack, Jenna et al. “Assessments of Expected Mpa Outcomes Can Inform and Improve Biodiversity Conservation: Case Studies Using the Mpa Guide.” Marine Policy, vol. 170, 2024, doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106364.
Spalding, Ana K. et al. “Engaging the Tropical Majority to Make Ocean Governance and Science More Equitable and Effective.” npj Ocean Sustainability, vol. 2, no. 1, 2023, doi:10.1038/s44183-023-00015-9.
Kassam, Karim-Aly S. et al. “Significance of Different Ways of Knowing in Responding to the Climate Crisis: The Necessity for Indigenous Knowledge.” PLOS Climate, vol. 2, no. 7, 2023, doi:10.1371/journal.pclm.0000237.
Johnson, Steven Mana‘oakamai and Angelo O. Villagomez. “Assessing the Quantity and Quality of Marine Protected Areas in the Mariana Islands.” Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 9, 2022, p. 1012815, doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.1012815.
Fleming, W. et al. “Measuring Spatial Associations between Environmental Health and Beliefs About Environmental Governance.” Environ Manage, 2022, Publisher, doi:10.1007/s00267-022-01706-8.
Nguyen, K. H. et al. “Who Are We? Highlighting Nuances in Asian American Experiences in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.” The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 2021, doi:10.1002/bes2.1939.
Johnson, Steven Mana’oakamai and James R. Watson. “Novel Environmental Conditions Due to Climate Change in the World’s Largest Marine Protected Areas.” One Earth, vol. 4, no. 11, 2021, pp. 1625–34, doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2021.10.016.
Johnson, Steven Mana’oakamai et al. “Contextualizing the Social-Ecological Outcomes of Coral Reef Fisheries Management.” Biological Conservation, vol. 241, 2020, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108288.
Darling, E. S. et al. “Social-Environmental Drivers Inform Strategic Management of Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene.” Nat Ecol Evol, vol. 3, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1341–50, doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0953-8.
Heron, Scott et al. “Validation of Reef-Scale Thermal Stress Satellite Products for Coral Bleaching Monitoring.” Remote Sensing, vol. 8, no. 1, 2016, doi:10.3390/rs8010059.
Maynard, Jeffrey A. et al. “Assessing Relative Resilience Potential of Coral Reefs to Inform Management.” Biological Conservation, vol. 192, 2015, pp. 109–19, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.09.001.
Houk, P. et al. “The Micronesia Challenge: Assessing the Relative Contribution of Stressors on Coral Reefs to Facilitate Science-to-Management Feedback.” PLoS One, vol. 10, no. 6, 2015, p. e0130823, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130823.
Enochs, Ian C. et al. “Shift from Coral to Macroalgae Dominance on a Volcanically Acidified Reef.” Nature Climate Change, vol. 5, no. 12, 2015, pp. 1083–88, doi:10.1038/nclimate2758.
Reynolds, Travis et al. “Unprecedented Coral Bleaching across the Marianas Archipelago.” Coral Reefs, vol. 33, no. 2, 2014, pp. 499–99, doi:10.1007/s00338-014-1139-0.
Houk, P. et al. “Coral Reef Disturbance and Recovery Dynamics Differ across Gradients of Localized Stressors in the Mariana Islands.” PLoS One, vol. 9, no. 8, 2014, p. e105731, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105731.