I’m currently a researcher with the Environmental Market Solutions Lab (emLab) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). This is where I share materials related to my professional activities in the realms of fisheries management, marine conservation, data science, and science communications. I mostly use this site to highlight recent publications, presentations, and workshops. On occasion, I may share interesting code or data-science problems I encountered and solutions to overcome them. If you’re looking for my photography, please visit my photography site!
Research
I develop bioeconomic models and data-driven tools to help inform the management of marine resources. Much of my work bridges marine ecology and fisheries economics and I have worked with many different types of fisheries and across many different geographic regions. Much of my current work is focusing on developing sustainable finance solutions for conservation and assessing the biological and economic impacts of marine protected areas. My past research has included analyzing tradeoffs of reforming fisheries subsidies to inform the World Trade Organization negotiations, developing fisheries management plans for Pacific Island tuna fisheries, and working with local stakeholders to better design and manage marine protected areas.
I received a B.A. in Biochemistry with a minor in Environmental Studies from the University of San Diego. After completing my undergraduate degree, I worked in pharmaceutical development for a short time before moving to the Turks and Caicos Islands to pursue my interest in the marine environment. I later received a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management with a specialization in Coastal Marine Resource Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UCSB.
Recent Publications
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Millage, K.D., Saccomanno, V.R., Warham, M.M., Rubino, L.L., Schuhbauer, A., Sumaila, U.R., & Costello, C. (2022). SubsidyExplorer: A decision-support tool to improve our understanding of the ecological and economic effects of reforming fisheries subsidies. PLoS ONE, 17(6): e0265829. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265829
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Millage, K.D., Villaseñor-Derbez, J.C., Bradley, D., Burgess, M.G., Lenihan, H.S., & Costello, C. (2021). Self-financed marine protected areas. Environmental Research Letters, 16(12). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3439
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Sumaila, U.R., Skerritt, D.J., Schuhbauer, A., Villasante, S., Cisneros-Montemayor, A.M., Sinan, H., Burnside, D., … Millage, K.D., …Zeller, D. (2021). WTO must ban harmful fisheries subsidies. Science, 374(6567), 544–544. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm1680
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Halpern, B.S., Maier, J., Lahr, H.J., Blasco, G., Costello, C., Cottrell, R.S., Deschenes, O., Ferraro, D.M., Froehlich, H.E., McDonald, G.G., Millage, K.D., & Weir, M.J. (2021). The long and narrow path for novel cell-based seafood to reduce fishing pressure for marine ecosystem recovery. Fish and Fisheries, 13.
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Ovando, D., Libecap, G.D., Millage, K.D., & Thomas, L. (2020). Coasean Approaches to Address Overfishing: Bigeye Tuna Conservation in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Marine Resource Economics, 36(1), 91–109. https://doi.org/10.1086/711853
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Costello, C., Millage, K., Eisenbarth, S., Galarza, E., Ishimura, G., Rubino, L.L., Saccomanno, V., Sumaila, U. R., & Strauss, K. (2020). Ambitious subsidy reform by the WTO presents opportunities for ocean health restoration. Sustainability Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00865-z
Consulting
I am available for consulting contracts and freelance work regarding fisheries, environmental data science, marine conservation, Shiny app development, creation of materials to aid in science communications, and other graphic design work. Please contact me directly by email if you would like to discuss a potential consulting contract.