Jasper Montana

Jasper’s current research focus is on the structure and function of governance systems for sustainability and conservation. In a project entitled ‘Grappling with Governance Systems: Biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories’ funded by the Leverhulme Trust, Jasper is exploring how the objectives, knowledges, and collaborations that are being enacted for biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories might inform approaches to sustainability and conservation more broadly. There are 14 UK Overseas Territories stretching from the Antarctic to the tropics and the governance arrangements that operate across these territories are as diverse as they are distributed. As well as being home to diverse communities, these territories host a rich array of plant and animal species that are found nowhere else in the world. Working with social research methods, this project aims to develop theoretical and practical insights about who participates in governance and why; and how different contexts influence the purpose and design of governance activities.