People

Lead

The MACE team is led by Dr Tim Stojanovic, an environmental geographer and social scientist with a special interest in coastal and marine environments. Dr Stojanovic is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Development and Geography at the University of St Andrews.

MACE team members:

• Allan Majalia

  Doctoral Candidate, ‘Co-creation of Conservation Knowledge for Coastal and Marine Reserves’

  

• Josephine Asare

  Doctoral Candidate ‘Harmonising traditional ecological knowledge with scientific knowledge for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable fisheries management’

  

• Tamara Darbar

  Doctoral Candidate ”Enhancing the effectiveness and equitability of Marine Protected Areas“

  

• Dr Elina Apine

  Research Associate, ‘Resilient Coasts’ (Co-Opt) Project sponsored by UKRI.

  Elina is investigating the social acceptance of coastal flood defence schemes that involve nature-based solutions. As an interdisciplinary early career researcher, Elina is particularly interested in combining social and natural science approaches.
  
  Apine, E. Stojanovic, T. (2024) Is the coastal future green, grey or hybrid? Diverse perspectives on coastal flood risk management and adaptation in the UK. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures 2: e4

  

• Dr Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood

  Affiliate Member and Lecturer in Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews.

• Dr Lucy Greenhill

  Affiliate Member and Head of Practice for Blue Economy, Howell Marine Consulting

  Greenhill, L., Stojanovic, T. A., & Tett, P. (2020) Does marine planning enable progress towards adaptive governance of marine systems? Lessons from Scotland’s regional marine planning process. Maritime Studies 19(3) 299–315.

  

• Former Members

  • Dr Sašo Gorjanc

  PhD (2024) Marine protection in the European Union: how do social constructions of marine wilderness and nature influence policy?

  Gorjanc, S. Stojanovic, T.A. Warren, C.R. (2024) All at sea? Exploring key actors’ understandings of the role of EU policies for protecting marine nature. Conservation Science and Practice 6 (8) e13199

  • Dr James Luger

  PhD (2023) Governing the High Seas : effective institutional arrangements for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

  • Dr Simone Riegel

  PhD (2023) An interdisciplinary study on Scottish saltmarsh blue carbon : data uncertainty and values in policy design

  Riegel, S. Kuhfuss, L. Stojanovic, T. (2023) Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation: Assessing the Scottish Public’s Preferences for Saltmarsh Carbon Storage. Ecological Economics 211, 107863

  • Alexandra Hoadley

  Research Associate ‘Community capabilities and Marine Protected Area Governance’ 2020

  • Dr Liliana Sole Figueras

  PhD (2020): ‘The Ecosystem Services of cruise ship tourism. An analysis of Ecosystem Services coproduction and access in the case of Barcelona’s cruise ship tourism’ University Autonoma Barcelona. Internship with MACE Team.

  • Dr Paula Duffy

  PhD (2019) ‘Understanding socio-demographic change and sustainability in Scotland’s coastal communities’

  • Dr Fiona Cunningham

  PhD (2019) ‘Adaptation to the impacts of climate change in small island communities: an analysis of Scottish case studies’

  • Mark Jackson

  Research Associate 2016. Seascape Characterisation: Foundations for a Multidisciplinary Approach. Funded by Carnegie Trust

• Interns

  The work of MACE is supported by interns who undertake six to ten week supervised projects part time, in support of a wider research project, thereby gaining research skills and understanding and contributing to real world coastal and marine environmental challenges.

  Santosh Shah, BSc (Hons) Geography and Sustainable Development 2025. Beach Teach: a fieldwork-based resource for Schools Geography

  Martha Webb, BSc (Hons) Biology and Sustainable Development 2025. Stakeholder and policy mapping for marine protected areas.

  Mia Hall, BSc (Hons) Geography 2024. Integrated Geography: data, field reconnaissance and methods to understand social and physical processes at East Sands, St Andrews.

  Julia Stewart, MA (Hons) Geography, 2024. Beach Teach: creating an integrated school geography resource for East Sands, St Andrews.

  Varun Bhattacharyya, BSc (Hons) Economics and Sustainable Development. 2023. Social acceptance of nature-based solutions.

  Mary Dugan, BSc (Hons) Geography and Sustainable Development 2022. Resilient Coasts: responding to sea level rise and flood risk with nature based solutions.

  Becca Salenjus, BSc (Hons) Biology and Sustainable Development 2022. Marine Protected Areas: virtual seascapes and underwater video.

  Alejandra Piazolla Ramirez, MSc Sustainable Development 2021. Marine Protected Areas and Carbon Credits for Conservation.

  Rebecca Foster, MSc Sustainable Development 2021. Marine Protected Areas and Eco-certification for marine sectors.

  Felicity Spoors, MSc Marine Ecosystem Management 2020. Marine Protected Areas. Long-term trends in protected species and habitats.

  Louise Harker, MSc Conservation Studies 2020. Marine Protected Areas, Wellbeing and Alternative Livelihoods.

  Benjamin Kao, BSc Sustainable Development 2020. Marine Protected Areas and Climate Impacts.

  Annabel Personeni, BSc Sustainable Development 2019. Marine Spatial Planning: discourse analysis and systems approaches.

  Tessa Bonincontro, MSc Sustainable Development 2019. Climate adaptation: social acceptance and managed realignment schemes.

  Connie Dawson, BSc Sustainable Development 2018. Developing a Coastal Governance Baseline Assessment for the Forth and Tay Marine Region.

  Armelle Duvieusart, BSc Sustainable Development 2016. Regional Marine Planning in Scotland: designing the process.

  Ashleigh Warnock, BSc Geography 2016. Cultural Ecosystem Services (Recreation) in Mudflats and Saltmarshes.

  Cat Young, MA Geography 2016. Charting the development of EU and Scottish Marine Policy.