Kristin A. Wintersteen
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| Email Address: | kaw15@duke.edu |
Education
- BA University of Washington, 2001
Research Interests
My dissertation explores the history of fisheries in the Southeast Pacific, where Peru and Chile--two of the top five fishing nations--have grappled with environmental limits and powerful interest groups within a shifting international political, socio-economic, and legal landscape since the 1950s. For nearly fifty years the nutrient-rich Humboldt Current has supplied the raw material for up to 80% of the world's fishmeal, a protein source used for animal feeds in the global North, thus forming a key part of international commodities markets. But the region's teeming schools of anchovies and sardines are also highly susceptible to large-scale climatic shifts known as El Niño. Its recurrence, combined with heavy fishing pressure, has more than once led to the collapse of these fisheries, prompting ongoing policy discussions about how best manage these precious but elusive marine resources. My work aspires to the genre of marine environmental history, examining how ecological processes have shaped and been shaped by the industrialization of fisheries in Southeast Pacific fisheries following World War II. I am also interested in the role of institutions of state, labor, the private sector, and international organizations such as the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, in this history.
Miscellaneous
Dissertation research in Peru and Chile (2008-09).
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Academic Scholarship, Organization of American States, 2008-09
- Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Award, U.S. Department of Education, 2008-09
- Latin American Studies Graduate Fellowship, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Duke University, 2004-08
- W.K. Weyerhaeuser Forest History Fellowship, Forest History Society, Duke University, 2008-09