Dr. Ting Ma

Dr. Ting Ma is currently serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the MarCoast Ecosystems Integration Lab within the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. She earned her PhD in Ethno-ecology in 2021 and has since held a distinguished assistant researcher role at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Notably, Dr. Ma also spent a year as a visiting PhD student in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta. Dr. Ma’s research is situated at the nexus of marine conservation, water management, conservation psychology, resilience to climate change, environmental policy, and public participation in co-management of protected areas. Her work delves into the impact of policies and the effectiveness of conservation practices, while also examining the factors influencing individuals’ behaviors and perceptions towards natural resource conservation. At the Technion, Dr. Ma’s research will concentrate on advancing marine spatial planning, with a specific focus on marine protection and conservation. In her role, she will apply empirical social science research methods to assess how principles of planning and ecosystem-based management are integrated and implemented in marine spatial plans at local, regional, national, and trans-boundary levels across various regions worldwide.