Mark Axelrod
Associate Professor Michigan State University
- East Lansing MI
Mark Axelrod's teaching and research center around international and comparative environmental governance, with a focus on justice outcomes.
Media
Biography
Mark’s current research addresses institutional change in international environmental law, local implementation of international environmental principles in India, policy impacts of scientific uncertainty, conflict resulting from climate-induced migration, and gendered impacts of marine fisheries policy in India and elsewhere.
His most recent work is published in Sustainability, Global Environmental Politics, Fisheries Research, and World Development.
Mark is a co-leader of the Michigan Chapter of Scholars Strategy Network. Beyond MSU, Mark is active with the International Studies Association Environmental Studies Section and the United Planet Faith & Science Initiative. He is also Associate Editor of Global Environmental Politics journal and sits on the Board of Contributors for the International Environmental Agreements Database.
Industry Expertise
Areas of Expertise
Education
Duke University
Ph.D.
Political Science
2008
Duke University
M.A.
Political Science
2005
Stanford University Law School,
J.D.
2004
University of Michigan
B.S.
Environmental Policy and Behavior,
1998
Affiliations
- Climate Science Legal Defense Fund : Campus Representative, 2017 - present
- Scholars Strategy Network : Co-leader, Michigan Chapter, 2017-present
- Global Environmental Politics : Associate Editor
Research Grants
Improving Ecosystem Services and Water Quality through Applied Research and Technology Advancements,
United States Geological Survey (WRRI 104b base grant),
2021-2022
CONFLICT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ESPP-AGBIORESEARCH INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM BUILDING INITIATIVE
2019-2021
Journal Articles
Design and Use of a Spatial Harmful Algal Bloom Vulnerability Index for Informing Environmental Policy and Advancing Environmental Justice
Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy2024
In recent decades, harmful algal blooms (HABs) have increased significantly in Lake Erie. The blooms can affect human health, aquatic ecosystems, and the local economy. The effects can vary across communities in the Lake Erie Basin due to local socioeconomic status and dependence on lake resources. Therefore, it is crucial to identify HAB-vulnerable populations and regions to adjust regional governance strategies and allocate resources for government support.
Interventions addressing conflict in communities hosting climate-influenced migrants: Literature review
Environment and Security2024
Existing scholarship hypothesizes a causal chain from climate change to resource availability constraints, to forced migration and conflict risks. Limited research, however, synthesizes findings about the efficacy of interventions to alleviate resources conflict in communities hosting climate migrants. This systematic literature review identified and analyzed 33 studies that explore interventions contributing to climate conflict resolution and environmental peacebuilding in receiving and migrant communities.
Understanding gender intersectionality for more robust ocean science
Earth System Governance2022
The UN Decade of Ocean Science (UNDOS) aims to: “Generate knowledge, support innovation, and develop solutions for equitable and sustainable development of the ocean economy under changing environmental, social and climate conditions.” Changing conditions affect certain groups more than others, depending on exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Gendered differentiation has been studied in small scale coastal fisheries.
Decentralizing the governance of inland fisheries in the Pacific region of Colombia
International Journal of the Commons2022
In 1993, Colombia launched a decentralization process granting Black communities collective property rights over territories they had inhabited for centuries. Decentralization was intended to promote inclusive governance, enhance environmental governance in Black communities’ territories, and reduce poverty. This paper presents a qualitative case study of decentralized inland fisheries governance in the country’s largest Community Council. Our results suggest that decentralization policies need to account for particularities of resource systems and community dynamics.
Learning from the Past: Pandemics and the Governance Treadmill
Sustainability2022
Global human health threats, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, necessitate coordinated responses at multiple levels. Public health professionals and other experts broadly agree about actions needed to address such threats, but implementation of this advice is stymied by systemic factors such as prejudice, resource deficits, and high inequality. In these cases, crises like epidemics may be viewed as opportunities to spark structural changes that will improve future prevention efforts.
