“Palau is at the forefront of marine conservation,” Santos explains, noting that the country already protects more than 80 percent of its national waters. “This research could help inform what type of protections and management initiatives would best support communities in a changing climate.”
Santos is also part of another research project in Palau that is a collaboration among Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions; the Ebiil Society, a Palauan nonprofit that pursues environmental protection through indigenous knowledge; and Abalobi, a South African nonprofit that seeks to use technology to make small-scale fishing more sustainable. The project aims to assess the socioeconomic and decision-making impacts of an app that connects fishers with buyers. Santos has worked on surveys with a small group of fishers for whom the app is being piloted and is preparing for controlled marketplace trials with that group.
With the help of the King Center on Global Development, that is exactly what Santos is doing.
In Palau, she is using oceanographic modeling to predict how climate change will affect the fish Palauans catch to make their living and feed their families. In partnership with Ebiil, she is also surveying fishermen and women about their views on climate change and how they might adapt to changes in species distribution.
Crowder says his instincts about recruiting Santos to Stanford have more than paid off.
“Bianca was and is outstanding,” he says. “She continues to surprise me with her creativity and her innovativeness and just how she thinks about taking on problems.”