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Political Ecology · Asia-Pacific

Landscapes, Livelihoods, and Environmental Governance

I am an environmental social scientist studying the political economy of land use change across the Asia-Pacific — deforestation, agrarian transformation, urban vulnerability, and community governance of natural resources.

My work is rooted in long-term fieldwork in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, with a growing focus on Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

Assistant Professor, Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution · School of Communication and Information · UH Mānoa Affiliate, Dept. of Geography and Environment · UH Mānoa Editor-in-Chief · Forest and Society Conference Chair · IASC Biennial 2027 Adjunct Fellow · East-West Center
Google Scholar ↗
Fieldwork landscape — South Sulawesi, Indonesia South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Research themes across
land, water, and the commons

01

Agrarian & Land Transformations

Commodity booms, enclosure, and deforestation in tropical forest countries — and the grassroots movements that resist and reshape them. Focused on oil palm and rubber expansion in Indonesia, and the long politics of land reclamation.

Land RightsAgrarian ChangeIndonesia
02

The Commons & Collective Action

How communities actively govern shared resources — from forests to watersheds to fisheries — and what it means to build durable institutions for the commons. I serve as IASC Conference Chair for the global Biennial in 2027.

CommonsIASCCollective Action
03

Urban Vulnerability & Hydrosocial Change

From Jakarta to the new capital Nusantara — coastal urbanization, flooding, and the political and livelihood transitions reshaping Indonesia's vulnerable deltas and waterfront communities.

Vulnerable DeltasUrban FloodingKalimantan
04

Climate Policy & Community Resilience

Community-centered approaches to climate adaptation and governance across the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on participatory methods, engaged scholarship, and reshaping resilience policy from below.

Climate PolicyAsia-PacificResilience

Fieldwork across Indonesia,
Southeast Asia & the Pacific

Long-term field research in South Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, and Jakarta — alongside community members, students, and collaborators across the region.

Planting rice
Woman at spring
Harvesting cloves
Rammang Rammang

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
2026

Changing models of commercialization of conservation areas and their impacts: A systematic literature review

Syahroni, D., Milenia, N.N.B., Hermawan, M.T.T., Fisher, M.R., and Maryudi, A.

Trees, Forests and People

2026

Navigating Power: The Role of a Conservation NGO in Recognising and Securing Customary Forest Rights for Borneo's Last Nomads

Siswandi, S., Sirimorok, N., Fisher, M.R., Wong, G.Y., Brockhaus, M., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Land Use Policy

2026

The SPA-Cube Framework: An Integrated Approach for Analysing Power Dynamics in Environmental Governance

Sahide, M.A.K., Siswandi, S., Sirimorok, N., Fisher, M.R., Wong, G.Y., and Brockhaus, M.

MethodsX, 16: 103814

Read ↗
2026

Territorializing Restoration: The Exclusion of Indigenous Agroforestry in Indonesia

Siswandi, S., Fisher, M.R., Sirimorok, N., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society, 10(1)

2026

Commercialization of Conservation Areas: Mapping the Key Policy-Governance Issues in the Current Scholarship and Outlining a Future Research Agenda

Syahroni, D., Milenia, N.N.B., Hermawan, M.T.T., Fisher, M.R., and Maryudi, A.

Forest and Society, 10(1)

2026

Beyond Metrics: A Decade of Building Critical Scholarship at the Interface of Forest and Society

Sahide, M.A.K., Sirimorok, N., and Fisher, M.R.

Forest and Society, 10(1)

2025

Turning Tides: Sustainable Community Practices in Restoring Mangrove Ecosystems in Coastal Riau

Prabawani, B., Sugianto, D.N., Ariyanti, D., et al., and Fisher, M.R.

E3S Web of Conferences

2025

Joint field school: towards cultivating parity in research partnerships

Yong, M.L., Fisher, M.R., Meyer, O., and Suryanata, K.

Journal of Geography in Higher Education

2025

Waves of Bugis Migration to the Mahakam Delta: Livelihood Trajectories and Landscape Changes along the Rural Coastlines of East Kalimantan

Basmar, M., Sirimorok, N., Batiran, K., Faturachmat, F., Sadapotto, A., Sahide, M.A.K., and Fisher, M.R.

Forest and Society, 9(1): 336–357

2025

Narrating Vulnerability and Reshaping Resilience: Media Discourse and Political Coalitions on Jakarta Flooding

Hasfi, N. and Fisher, M.R.

Environmental Communication, 19(4): 688–706

Read ↗
2025

'Waiting to be called': rural youth, hope and future-making in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Griffin, C., Kacir, H., Rahmat, R., Andary, P.M., Hamzah, A.S., Dressler, W., Fisher, M.R., et al.

Journal of Youth Studies, 2025: 1–17

2024

Socioeconomic perspective of agroforestry development in Central Java

Prabawani, B., Hadi, S.P., Fisher, M.R., et al., and Ainuddin, I.

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

2024

Environmental Governance Challenges of Indigenous Forest Recognition: Climate Solution Ideal and Its Uneven Outcomes in Indonesia

Abdullah, A., Fisher, M.R., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society, 8(2): 402–421

2024

Nusantara: Climate Dilemmas of a "Green" Capital City in Indonesia

Fisher, M.R., Longman, R.J., Maryudi, A., and Laraswati, D.

Asia-Pacific Issues, 169: 1–10

2024

The Persistence of Precarity: Youth Livelihood Struggles and Aspirations in the Context of Truncated Agrarian Change, South Sulawesi

Griffin, C., Sirimorok, N., Dressler, W.H., Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., et al.

Agriculture and Human Values, 41: 293–311

Read ↗
2023

Conservation Policy, Indigeneity, and Changing Traditional Hunting Practices in West Papua

Fatem, S.M., Runtuboi, Y.Y., Fisher, M.R., Sufi, Y., Maryudi, A., and Sirimorok, N.

Forest and Society, 7(2): 359–379

Read ↗
2023

Uprooting the Mosalaki: Changing institutions and livelihood impacts at Kelimutu National Park

Batiran, K., Fisher, M.R., Verheijen, B., Sirimorok, N., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society, 7(2): 295–310

Read ↗
2023

Resettling at the Precipice: Deepening Vulnerabilities in Disaster Recovery from Upland Sulawesi

Sirimorok, N., Batiran, K.B., Fisher, M.R., Verheijen, B., Nursaputra, M., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Human Ecology, 51(4): 737–751

Read ↗
2023

Pulp Fiction: National Interest, Regional Politics, and the Agglomeration of Industrial Tree Plantations in Indonesia

Suprapto, S., Awang, S.A., Fisher, M.R., et al., and Maryudi, A.

Journal of Tropical Forest Science

2023

Navigating the Hidden Politics of Water Resource Bureaucracies in Indonesia: Mapping Issue-Elements and Alliances

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Hasfi, N., et al., and Maryudi, A.

Hasanuddin Law Review

2023

Blind-spots and spotlights in bureaucratic politics: An analysis of policy co-production in environmental governance dynamics in Indonesia

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Sirimorok, N., Faturachmat, F., Dhiaulhaq, A., Maryudi, A., Batiran, K.B., and Supratman, S.

Development Policy Review, 41(5): e12693

Read ↗
2023

Placing the Commoning First: Getting Beyond the Patronage Trap in Natural Resource Decentralization Policies

Sirimorok, N., Fisher, M.R., Verheijen, B., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society, 7(2): 412–434

2023

On the demise of Makkalice: Conservation enclosure and the loss of a wealth-redistributing harvest system in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Mujetahid, A., Sirimorok, N., Muin, A.V.F., Fisher, M.R., Sahide, M.A.K., and Dressler, W.

Human Ecology, 51(4): 753–768

2023

Rethinking agrarian transition in Southeast Asia through rice farming in Thailand

Promkhambut, A., Yokying, P., Woods, K., Fisher, M.R., et al.

World Development, 169: 106309

2022

Relational values of forests: Value-conflicts between local communities and external programmes in Sulawesi

Yuliani, E.L., Moeliono, M., Labarani, A., et al., and Sunderland, T.

People and Nature

2022

Nongovernmental organizations as interest groups and their roles in policy processes: Insights from Indonesian forest and environmental governance

Laraswati, D., Krott, M., Soraya, E., et al., and Maryudi, A.

Forest and Society, 10(1)

2022

Coordinating forest tenure reform: Objectives, resources and relations in Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, and Uganda

Myers, R., Fisher, M.R., Monterroso, I., et al., and Herawati, T.

Forest Policy and Economics

2022

Effects of COVID-19 restriction measures in Indonesia: A comparative spatial and policy analysis of selected urban agglomerations

Handayani, W., Insani, T.D., Fisher, M.R., et al., and Adam, U.E.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

2022

Making Sustainable Forest Development Work: Formulating an Idea for a More Appropriate Green Policy Paradigm

Nurrochmat, D.R., Sahide, M.A.K., and Fisher, M.R.

Frontiers in Environmental Science

2022

Editorial: Rural-Urban Linkages in the Age of Urbanisation

Setiadi, R., Chigbu, U.E., Fisher, M.R., and Chu, E.

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development

2022

Holding social forestry hostage in Indonesia: Contested bureaucracy mandates and potential escape pathways

Maryudi, A., Sahide, M.A.K., Daulay, M.H., et al., and Fisher, M.R.

Environmental Science & Policy

2022

Territorializing spatial data: Controlling land through One Map projects in Indonesia and Myanmar

Faxon, H.O., Goldstein, J.E., Fisher, M.R., and Hunt, G.

Political Geography, 98: 102651

2022

From knowledge to action: multi-stakeholder planning for urban climate change adaptation and resilience in the Asia-Pacific

Fisher, M.R., Bettinger, K.A., Lowry, K., Lessy, M.R., Salim, W., and Foley, D.

Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 2022: 1–15

2021

Climate change mitigation in forests: Conflict, peacebuilding, and lessons for climate security

Myers, R., Luttrell, C., Harjanthi, R., et al., and Larson, A.

CIFOR

2021

Creating Commons: Reflections on Creating Natural Resource Management Regimes in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Batiran, K., Sirimorok, N., Verheijen, B., et al., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society, 5(2)

2021

Actor-center framing on measuring land use conflict visibility

Sahide, M.A.K., Sirimorok, N., Batiran, K., et al., and Maryudi, A.

MethodsX

2021

Apertures of knowledge co-production: Facilitating multi-generational photovoices at Bali's UNESCO Cultural Landscape

Dharmiasih, W., Fisher, M.R., Dwiyanti, N.L.E., et al., and Verheijen, B.

Book chapter

2021

Overlooking the Victims: Civic Engagement on Twitter During Indonesia's 2019 Fire and Haze Disaster

Hasfi, N., Fisher, M.R., and Sahide, M.A.K.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

2020

The politics of numbers and additionality governing the national Payment for Forest Environmental Services scheme in Vietnam: A case study from Son La province

Thuy, P.T., Ngo, H.C., Chi, D.T.L., et al., and Fisher, M.R.

Forest and Society

2020

The boom of social forestry policy and the bust of social forests in Indonesia: Developing and applying an access-exclusion framework to assess policy outcomes

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Erbaugh, J.T., Intarini, D., Dharmiasih, W., Makmur, M., Faturachmat, F., Verheijen, B., and Maryudi, A.

Forest Policy and Economics, 120: 102290

Read ↗
2020

Anticipating a new conservation bureaucracy? Land and power in Indonesia's Essential Ecosystem Area policy

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M., Nasri, N., Dharmiasih, W., Verheijen, B., and Maryudi, A.

Land Use Policy, 97: 104789

Read ↗
2020

Land and power framework for assessing Ecosystem Essential Area policy

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Mas'ud, E.I., et al., and Maryudi, A.

MethodsX

2020

Sequential Power Analysis framework in assessing social forestry outcomes

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Verheijen, B., et al., and Wong, G.Y.

MethodsX

2020

From Hunter to Protector: The Invention and Reinvention of the Nuri Talaud

Batiran, K. and Fisher, M.R.

Forest and Society

2020

The power in the interview: A practical guide for identifying the critical role of actor interests in environment research

Maryudi, A. and Fisher, M.R.

Forest and Society

2020

Community and conservation in Wallacea: Making the case for the region, a methodological framework, and research trends

Fisher, M.R., Verheijen, B., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society, 4(1): 1–19

Read ↗
2020

Prophets and profits in Indonesia's social forestry partnership schemes: Introducing a sequential power analysis

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Supratman, S., et al., and Kim, Y.S.

Forest Policy and Economics

2020

The anachronistic category of non-government organisations: Moving from normative to empirical-based definitions for identifying organized interest groups in forest policymaking

Laraswati, D., Rahayu, S., Sahide, M.A.K., et al., and Maryudi, A.

Forest Policy and Economics

2020

Misleading icons of communal lands in Indonesia: Implications of adat forest recognition from a model site in Kajang

Fisher, M.R. and van der Muur, W.

The Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 21(1): 55–76

2019

The bilocal migrant: Economic drivers of mobility across the rural-urban interface in Central Java, Indonesia

Rudiarto, I., Hidayani, R., and Fisher, M.R.

Journal of Rural Studies

2019

Changing Indigeneity Politics in Indonesia: From Revival to Projects

van der Muur, W., Vel, J., Fisher, M.R., and Robinson, K.

The Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology

2019

The bureaucratic politics of conservation in governing land conflict: A typology of capacities

Sahide, M.A.K., Fisher, M.R., Maryudi, A., Wong, G.Y., Supratman, S., and Alam, S.

MethodsX

Read ↗
2019

Fragmented dual patrons: Analyzing regional bureaucracies' task and the coalition on governing Jeneberang watershed landscape

Sahide, M.A.K., Muliati, M., Samad, R.S., et al., and Fisher, M.R.

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

2019

The politics, economies, and ecologies of Indonesia's third generation of social forestry: An introduction to the special section

Fisher, M.R., Dhiaulhaq, A., and Sahide, M.A.K.

Forest and Society

2019

Maladaptation on the Waterfront: Jakarta's Growth Coalition and the Great Garuda

Salim, W., Bettinger, K., and Fisher, M.R.

Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 10(1): 63–80

2018

Assessing the New Social Forestry Project in Indonesia: Recognition, Livelihood and Conservation?

Fisher, M.R., Moeliono, M., Mulyana, A., Yuliani, E.L., Adriadi, A., Judda, J., and Sahide, M.A.K.

International Forestry Review, 20(3): 346–361

2015

Suitable Days for Plant Growth Disappear under Projected Climate Change: Potential Human and Biotic Vulnerability

Mora, C., Caldwell, I.R., Caldwell, J.M., Fisher, M.R., Genco, B.M., and Running, S.W.

PLoS Biology, 13(6): e1002167

Policy Briefs & Reports
2024

Commodities and Global Climate Governance: Early Evidence From the EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR)

Fisher, M.R., Obidzinski, K., Mota Alves, A., and Ekaputri, A.D.

Asia-Pacific Issues, East-West Center: Honolulu

2023

Forest Restoration and Rehabilitation in Indonesia: A Policy and Legal Review Report

Fisher, M.R., Daulay, M.H., Wicaksono, S., Bisiaux, A., and Arthalina, E.C.

EU REDD Facility / European Forest Institute and Sebijak Institute

2022

The Climate-Water Nexus in Indonesia: Water Resource Vulnerabilities, Coastal Hazards, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Fisher, M.R. (Lead researcher and writer)

World Bank

2022

Pathways to Integrated Urban Water Management for Greater Jakarta

Fisher, M.R. (Lead researcher and writer)

World Bank

News, Media & Public Writing
2022

Jakarta Flooding Prompts Plan to Relocate Indonesia's Capital

Fisher, M.R.

East-West Wire, May 19, 2022

2019

Jakarta's 'great garuda' project: Profits for re-emerging elites in the name of climate change

Salim, W., Bettinger, K., and Fisher, M.R.

East-West Wire, June 21, 2019

Read ↗
2013

Smoke over Sumatra: Why Indonesia's fires are a global concern

Miles, W. and Fisher, M.R.

Mongabay. Republished in Jakarta Post, Asia Sentinel, Malay Mail

Read ↗
Full list on Google Scholar ↗

Manuscripts in progress

Monograph · In Progress

Inheritance: Land rights and the afterlives of recognition in Indonesia

StatusProposal under review
TypeSingle-author monograph

What happens after Indigenous communities win recognition of their land rights? This monograph follows the aftermath of the first formal return of state forest lands to an Indigenous community in Indonesia — tracing what recognition means on the ground, how it shifts power and possibility, and what the struggle continues to look like years later. Drawing on long-term fieldwork with the Kajang community in South Sulawesi, it asks what is truly inherited when land rights are won.

Edited Volume · In Progress

Community Forestry: Rights, Livelihoods, and Conservation across South and Southeast Asia

StatusProposal under review
RoleLead editor

Co-edited with two regional collaborators, this volume brings together scholars and practitioners working on social and community forestry across South and Southeast Asia. It examines the persistent tensions between livelihood imperatives and conservation goals — and what it truly means to govern forests with and for communities rather than over them.

Book Chapters
2023

Innovations in Kemiri Shifting Cultivation: Household strategies, land institutions, and a hedge against official policy in South Sulawesi

Sahide, M.A.K., Supratman, S., and Fisher, M.R.

Book chapter

2023

The power of possibility in landscape governance: Multiple lives of participatory action research in Kajang, Sulawesi

Fisher, M.R., Mulyana, A., Labarani, A., Yuliani, E.L., and Moeliono, M.

In Colfer, C. and Prabhu, R. (Eds.), Responding to Environmental Issues through Adaptive Collaborative Management. Routledge, pp. 113–132

2023

Assessing the Governance Modes of Indonesia's Forest Management Unit

Ramadhan, R., Karim, S., Fisher, M.R., Mursyid, H., and Indrawan, M.

In Environmental Governance in Indonesia. Springer International Publishing, pp. 151–165

2021

Apertures of knowledge co-production: Facilitating multi-generational photovoices at Bali's UNESCO Cultural Landscape

Dharmiasih, W., Fisher, M.R., Dwiyanti, N.L.E., et al., and Verheijen, B.

Book chapter

2021

Engaging voices in the landscape: Participatory geography in Indigenous land rights recognition

Fisher, M.R.

In Acabado, S. and Kwan, D. (Eds.), Indigenous Peoples, Heritage and Landscape in the Asia Pacific. Routledge, pp. 31–53

2016

Was the conflict in East Timor, Indonesia the direct result of natural resources?

Fisher, M.R., Bettinger, K., and Burnett, M.T.

In Burnett, M.T. (Ed.), Natural Resource Conflicts. ABC-CLIO, pp. 364–369

2014

The Art of Contestation and Legitimacy: Environment, Customary Communities, and Activism in Indonesia

Bettinger, K., Fisher, M.R., and Miles, W.

In Liam, L. and Kedzion, S. (Eds.), Occupy the Earth: Global Environmental Movements. Emerald Group Publishing, pp. 197–226

Landscape
Woman at spring

Courses & Field Teaching

My teaching spans political ecology, environmental governance, peace and conflict studies, and community resilience — bridging theory and practice through case-based learning, fieldwork, and collaborative inquiry.

I teach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and have delivered intensive courses across Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and internationally through the East-West Center, UN-Habitat, and US State Department platforms.

Fieldwork, Indonesia
PACE 310

Survey of Peace and Conflict Studies

An introduction to the field of peace and conflict studies, examining theories of conflict, violence, and peace-building across scales — from interpersonal to international. Students explore historical cases, contemporary conflicts, and frameworks for understanding and responding to violence.

LevelUndergraduate
OfferedFall, Spring, Summer
Credits3
PACE 316

Environmental Governance

Examines who governs natural resources — and how, for whom, and with what consequences. Topics include common-pool resource theory, political ecology, land tenure, deforestation governance, climate policy, and the intersection of environmental and social justice across the Asia-Pacific.

LevelUndergraduate
OfferedFall
Credits3
PACE/DURP 621

Environmental Conflict Resolution

Focuses on the theory and practice of resolving disputes over natural resources, land use, and environmental policy. Students engage case studies from Hawaii, Indonesia, and the Pacific, and develop practical skills in mediation, negotiation, and multi-stakeholder facilitation.

LevelGraduate
OfferedFall
Credits3
PACE 699

Directed Reading: Political Economy of Papua

An intensive graduate directed reading on the political economy of Papua — covering resource extraction, sovereignty conflicts, Indigenous rights, environmental governance, and the intersection of development and security in one of the world's most biodiverse and politically contested regions.

LevelGraduate
OfferedSummer
CreditsVariable
PACE / DURP

Collaboration Between Sectors

A cross-disciplinary graduate seminar co-offered between Urban and Regional Planning and Peace and Conflict Education, exploring models for government, civil society, and private sector collaboration in addressing complex public problems.

LevelGraduate Seminar
Last offeredSpring 2023, UH Mānoa
GEO 758

Political Ecologies of Conservation

Graduate seminar examining the politics, power, and practice of conservation — from national parks and protected areas to REDD+ and community-based conservation. Case material drawn from Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with attention to Indigenous rights, livelihoods, and contested sovereignty.

LevelGraduate Seminar
Last offeredFall 2022, UH Mānoa
PLAN 670

Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Disaster Management

Graduate seminar exploring how disasters are socially produced, politically managed, and unevenly experienced. Blends planning, geography, and social science perspectives with practical frameworks for disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response.

LevelGraduate Seminar
Last offeredFall 2020, UH Mānoa
PLAN 414

Building Community Resilience

An applied undergraduate course on the theory and practice of resilience — community engagement, vulnerability assessment, and participatory planning for disaster risk reduction. Students work on real-world projects with local communities and agencies.

LevelUndergraduate
Last offeredSummer 2017 & 2018, UH Mānoa
PLAN 751 / PWK 602

Urban Resilience: Flood Management in Semarang

A graduate practicum jointly offered with Diponegoro University, Semarang. Students engage directly with city agencies, affected communities, and infrastructure challenges around urban flooding — producing actionable planning proposals in a live policy environment.

LevelGraduate Practicum
Last offeredFall 2016, UH Mānoa / UNDIP
Credits6
PLAN 618

Community Based Economic Development

Explores community-centered approaches to economic development — asset-based strategies, cooperative models, participatory planning, and the intersection of economic development with environmental and social sustainability.

LevelGraduate
Last offeredSpring 2013, UH Mānoa
East-West Center / YSEALI

Field Schools for Environmental Solutions

Short courses delivered to multiple cohorts of Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) fellows through the East-West Center, focusing on community-based approaches to environmental problem-solving, participatory methods, and regional case studies.

PartnerEast-West Center / US State Dept.
FormatMultiple sessions & cohorts
Hasanuddin University

Political Ecology of Forests

Graduate seminar developed and delivered for the Forestry PhD program at Hasanuddin University, Makassar. Topics include political ecology theory, forest governance in Indonesia, community forestry, and REDD+ politics.

InstitutionHasanuddin University, Indonesia
Last offeredSpring 2020 & 2021
Multi-University

Environment, Development, and Governance in Indonesia

An ambitious multi-institution course drawing 60 participants — graduate students from UGM, Hasanuddin University, and practitioners via the Sebijak Institute, Forest and Society Research Group, and Dala Institute. Covers theories, issues, and trends in Indonesian environmental governance.

FormatFeb–May 2021
Enrollment~60 participants
UN-Habitat / ASPAC

Asia-Pacific Mayor's Academy: Urban Resilience

Two-day intensive course co-convened with UN-Habitat, UN-ESCAP, UNU-IAS, UCLG-ASPAC, IGES, and PURL for 14 city mayors from across the Asia-Pacific, focusing on urban resilience frameworks, climate adaptation, and executive decision-making.

PartnersUN-Habitat, UN-ESCAP, UNU-IAS
DeliveredFebruary 2021
USAID / East-West Center

Urban Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience

Six short courses delivered across multiple years (2015–2017) to multi-stakeholder groups across the Asia-Pacific, as part of a USAID-funded training initiative. Emphasized actionable climate adaptation planning for urban contexts.

Format6 short courses, 2015–2017
FunderUSAID / East-West Center
NDPTC

Coastal Community Resilience

FEMA-certified courses on coastal community resilience delivered through the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) at UH Mānoa, with fieldwork components in American Samoa and Hawaiʻi.

InstitutionNDPTC / UH Mānoa
Delivered2012–2014, 4 courses

On Teaching

The dalang — the shadow puppet master — holds together a whole world of characters and voices, giving each their due without collapsing the complexity. I think of teaching similarly: making space for many stories and perspectives, building capacity in students to ask better questions, and connecting the theoretical to the lived.

Shucking corn
Fieldwork peanuts
Harvest peanuts
Hunting Papua

Fieldwork, engaged scholarship,
and the politics of the environment

Growing up in rural Indonesia, I came early to the nuances of environmental governance — the way state resources, cultural identity, and globalization collide in landscapes where people live.

My professional work began in post-disaster reconstruction: organizing students after Hurricane Katrina, followed by living alongside communities in Aceh rebuilding from the Indian Ocean tsunami. Those years gave me a systems-level understanding of vulnerability, resilience, and the politics of recovery that has shaped everything since.

I went on to work across city planning, resource management, and climate diplomacy in Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific — with the World Bank, USAID, the Asia Foundation, CIFOR, and the East-West Center — before completing my PhD in Geography at UH Mānoa in 2019.

My research now sits at the intersection of political ecology, agrarian change, commons governance, and urban vulnerability — with long-term field sites in South Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, and Jakarta, and a growing focus on Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

I am Editor-in-Chief of Forest and Society, the leading journal in Southeast Asian forest governance. I hold appointments at UH Mānoa's Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution and the Department of Geography and Environment, and serve as an Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center.

My site is named after the dalang — the shadow puppet master who gives voice to many characters and holds the whole narrative together. I think of engaged fieldwork similarly: the researcher as someone who makes space for many stories, not who tells the story for others.

Micah R. Fisher

Curriculum Vitae

Full academic CV — updated December 2025

Download CV (PDF)
Jakarta
River flood
Makapuu ocean
Jukung boats
Rammang Rammang
Volcano

Field Schools on Environmental Transitions

These field schools are a joint initiative between the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the East-West Center, and partner universities in Indonesia and Thailand.

They build a multigenerational, multinational network of environmental scholars through immersive, community-based fieldwork.

Field school participants, South Sulawesi

The schools are organized in partnership with Hasanuddin University (Makassar), Khon Kaen University, and the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University — with the goal of improving institutional parity and fostering genuine peer-to-peer scholarly exchange across borders.

Field sites include South Sulawesi and East Kalimantan in Indonesia and highland and lowland communities in northern Thailand. Student outputs include StoryMaps, collaborative publications, community workshops, and research posters. This work is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation as part of the broader LuceSEA Environmental Transitions project.

Fieldwork peanuts
Honey
Shucking corn

The LAND Lab

The LAND Lab — Livelihoods, Agrarian change, Nature, Development — is a research group examining how rural livelihoods, land relations, and environmental governance shift together across Southeast Asia, Hawaiʻi, and the Pacific.

Lab members work across political ecology, agrarian studies, and community-based environmental governance, with long-term field sites in Indonesia and Thailand alongside newer work in Hawaiʻi.

Harvest peanuts, South Sulawesi
LLivelihoods
AAgrarian change
NNature
DDevelopment
Planting rice
Makapuu ocean
Harvesting cloves

IASC Biennial Conference 2027

The IASC Biennial is the leading global gathering of commons scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, held every two years to advance the study and practice of collective action and commons governance.

I am serving as Conference Chair for the 2027 Biennial, hosted in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Sulawesi landscape

The conference will convene scholars from across the globe working on forests, fisheries, water, land, digital commons, and beyond — connecting local governance innovations to global sustainability challenges.

For full details on the program, venue, and registration, visit the official conference website.

Jukung boats
Volcano
Rammang Rammang