(San Francisco, Calif.) Oran R. Young, a professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will present a talk on ocean governance at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 17.

Young will discuss the importance of place-based management (PBM), an approach that calls for integrated management of the full suite of human activities occurring in spatially delineated areas of the ocean. These are established on the basis of a combination of biophysical and socioeconomic criteria.

"We should encourage states to experiment with PBM in marine systems under their jurisdiction and learn from their experience in crafting and operating PBM systems," said Young. "The activities in California spawned by the Marine Life Protection Act, the initiative in New York aimed at improving management for parts of Long Island Sound and Lake Ontario, the emerging public/private partnership in Massachusetts, and the strategic planning process under way in Florida, all provide opportunities to try out practices relevant to PBM and to distinguish between what works on the water and what seems attractive on paper but fails to solve problems."