About Jacob Eurich

Jacob Eurich

Small-Scale Fisheries Solutions Scientist

Contact

Remote Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Climate change and fisheries, indicators of ocean health and fisheries status, sustainable and resilient blue food systems, applied marine ecology, Asia-Pacific

Climate change reshapes natural-human systems through environmental degradation and ecosystem change, creating trade-offs in environmental and human wellbeing outcomes. Jacob’s research lies at this intersection of global change ecology, marine resource governance, and human health. He investigates fisheries management, conflict, and equity to improve food security for regions nutritionally dependent on aquatic foods. Collectively, his research uses knowledge co-production, participatory workshops, and community-engaged science to build climate resilience in marine fishery systems.

Background

Jacob joined EDF in 2022 after working as a faculty researcher at the Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara and a postdoctoral scholar at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, UC Santa Barbara. Prior to that he worked as a resident researcher and marine educator at the Mahonia Na Dari Research and Conservation Centre in Papua New Guinea and with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a fisheries scientist.

He is a Research Associate at the Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara, a principal investigator for the Pacific Planetary Health Initiative, an explorer and photographer with the Explorer Club, and a coordinating member of FishSCORE2030, an endorsed program of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Education

PhD in Marine Ecology, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University

Publications

For an updated list, please visit publications here.

Eurich, JG*, WR Friedman*, KM Kleisner*, LZ Zhao*, CM Free, M Fletcher, JG Mason, K Tokunaga, A Aguion, A Dell'Apa, M Dickey-Collas, R Fujita, CD Golden, AB Hollowed, G Ishimura, KA Karr, S Kasperski, Y Kisara, JD Lau, S Mangubhai, L Osman, GT Pecl, JO Schmidt, EH Allison, PJ Sullivan, JE Cinner, R Griffis, TR McClanahan, RC Stedman, KE Mills (2024). Diverse pathways for climate resilience in fishery systems. Fish and Fisheries. 25, 38–59. *denotes first co-authorship

Free, CM, JG Smith, J Brun, TB Francis, JG Eurich, J Claudet, JE Dugan, D Gill, SL Hamilton, K Kaschner, CJ Lopazanski, D Mouillot, SL Ziegler, JE Caselle, KJ Nickols (2023). If you build it, they will come: coastal amenities facilitate human engagement in marine protected areas. People and Nature. 5, 1592–1609.

Smith, JG, CM Free, CJ Lopazanski, J Brun, CR Anderson, MH Carr, J Claudet, JE Dugan, JG Eurich, TB Francis, SL Hamilton, K Kaschner, D Mouillot, PT Raimondi, RM Starr, SL Ziegler, KJ Nickols, JE Caselle (2023). A network of marine protected areas does not confer community structure resilience to a marine heatwave across coastal ecosystems. Global Change Biology 00:1-18.

Eurich, JG, A Tekiau, KL Seto, E Aram, T Beiateuea, CD Golden, B Rabwere, DJ McCauley (2023). Resilience of a giant clam subsistence fishery in Kiribati to climate change. Pacific Conservation Biology PC22050.

Carroll, C*, JG Eurich*, K Sherman, R Glazer, MT Braynen, KA Callwood, A Castañeda, C Dahlgren, KA Karr, KM Kleisner, V Burns-Perez, SE Poon, N Requena, V Sho, SN Tate, S Haukebo (2023). A climate vulnerability assessment to enhance collaborative science and management in Caribbean recreational fisheries. Frontiers in Marine Science 10:1177715. *denotes first co-authorship

Halpern, B, C Boettiger, MC Dietze, JA Gephart, P Gonzalez, NB Grimm, … JG Eurich, et al., C Youngflesh (2023). Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science. Ecosphere 14(1):e4342.

Mills, KE, D Armitage, JG Eurich, KM Kleisner, G Pecl, K Tokunaga (2022). Co-production of knowledge and strategies to support climate resilient fisheries. ICES Journal of Marine Science. fsac110.

Golden, CD 1, J Ayroles 1, JG Eurich 1, JA Gephart 1, KL Seto 1, MK Sharp 1, P Balcom, HM Barravecchia, KK Bell, KD Gorospe, J Kim, WH Koh, J Zamborain-Mason, DJ McCauley, H Murdoch, K Neeti, S Passarelli, A Specht, E Sunderland, A Tekaieti, A Tekiau, R Tekoaua, E Timeon (2022). Study protocol: interactive dynamics between coral reef fisheries and the nutrition transition in Kiribati. Frontiers in Public Health. 10:890381. 1 Denotes first co-authorship

Andrew, NL, EH Allison, T Brewer, J Connell, H Eriksson, JG Eurich, A Farmery, JA Gephart, CD Golden, M Herrero, K Mapusua, KL Seto, MK Sharp, P Thornton, AM Thow, J Tutoa (2022). Continuity and change in the contemporary Pacific food system. Global Food Security. 32:100608.

Mason, JG 1, JG Eurich 1, JD Lau 1, W Battista, CM Free KE Mills, K Tokunaga, , LZ Zhao, M Dickey-Collas, M Valle, G Pecl, J Cinner, TR McClanahan, EH Allison, WR Friedman, C Silva, E Yáñez, MÁ Barbieri, KM Kleisner (2022). Attributes of climate resilience in fisheries: from theory to practice. Fish and Fisheries. 00:1-23. 1 Denotes first co-authorship

Golden, CD, JZ Koehn, A Shepon, S Passarelli, C Free, D Viana, H Matthey, JG Eurich, JA Gephart, E Fluet-Chouinnard, E Nyboer, A Lynch, M Kjellevold, S Bromage, P Charlebois, M Barange, S Vannuccini, L Cao, KM Kleisner, EB Rimm, G Danaei, C DeSisto, H Kelahan, KJ Fiorella, DC Little, EH Allison, J Fanzo, SH Thilsted (2021). Aquatic foods for nourishing nations. Nature. 1–6.

Golden, CD, JA Gephart, JG Eurich, DJ McCauley, MK Sharp, NL Andrew, KL Seto (2021). Social-ecological traps link food systems to nutritional outcomes. Global Food Security. 30:100561.

Farrell, P, AM Thow, JT Wate, N Nonga, P Vatucawaqa, T Brewer, MK Sharp, A Farmery, H Trevena, E Reeve, H Eriksson, I Gonzalez, G Mulcahy, JG Eurich, NL Andrew (2020). COVID-19 and Pacific food system resilience: opportunities to build a robust response. Food Security. 12:783–791.

Eurich, JG, JK Matley, R Baker, MI McCormick, GP Jones (2019). Stable isotope analysis reveals trophic diversity and partitioning in territorial damselfishes on a low-latitude coral reef. Marine Biology. 166:17.

Eurich, JG, MI McCormick, GP Jones (2018). Domino effect: direct and indirect effects of interspecific competition in a highly partitioned guild of reef fishes. Ecosphere. 9:e02389.

Eurich, JG 1, SM Shomaker 1, MI McCormick, GP Jones (2018). Herbivore foraging dynamics after the removal of an abundant territorial damselfish in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology & Ecology. 506:155–162. 1 Denotes first co-authorship

Richardson, LE, NAJ Graham, MS Pratchett, JG Eurich, AS Hoey (2018). Mass coral bleaching causes biotic homogenization of reef fish assemblages. Global Change Biology. 24:3117–3129.

Eurich, JG, MI McCormick, GP Jones (2018). Habitat selection and aggression as determinants of fine-scale partitioning of coral reef zones in a guild of territorial damselfishes. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 587:201–215.

Eurich, JG, RL Selden, RR Warner (2014). California spiny lobster preference for urchins from kelp forests: implications for urchin barren persistence. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 498:217–225.

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