This research examines how traditional and local knowledge (TLK) can be meaningfully integrated into disaster risk reduction laws in Fiji and Vanuatu. Through legal analysis, case studies, and community interviews, it shows that TLK is not just cultural heritage, but a vital, science-based strategy for disaster resilience and survival.

Transdisciplinary research approaches to climate change mitigation are being used more often given their strengths in collaboration, knowledge integration and collective decision making. Such approaches warrant more attention to understand how diverse teams produce knowledge and practice problem-solving. My thesis research explores the strengths and challenges of transdisciplinary research to offer future avenues for team collaboration and policy decision–making processes.

My research argues that fish possess political agency and examines how ecological changes on the Arctic Njauddâm River shape human decision-making. By observing invasive pink salmon, collapsing Atlantic salmon populations, and cross-border tensions, the study challenges traditional views of politics and highlights how nonhumans actively shape political processes.