Project SharedSeas

Ben Nagel, Dr.

Biography

Ben Nagel studied biology and ecology at Iowa State University, USA (B. Sc.) and continued his studies at the University of Bremen, Germany (M. Sc.). His master’s thesis explored the relationship between community social networks and agricultural climate innovations in coastal Bangladesh. In his doctoral thesis at the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen, he studied environmental commons governance and collective action challenges in coastal aquaculture.

His work emphasizes methods and theory which investigate the dynamic social, ecological, and political interactions and processes influencing environmental resource access and sustainability, with a particular interest in agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture. This includes extensive experience with participatory modeling approaches, from comparing diverse perspectives on marine resource conflicts in Peru, to diagnosing leverage points for sustainable transformation of Senegalese pelagic fish value chains towards increased local food security.

Since June 2026, Ben is a postdoctoral researcher on the Project SharedSeas, led by Prof. Dr. Stefan Partelow, where his research will investigate barriers and pathways for governing the High Seas as a global ocean commons regime.

Contact

ben.nagel@uni-bonn.de

+49 228 73 66227

Location

Center for Life Ethics

Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 7

53113 Bonn

Vita

Academic Background

2020–2024

PhD, Political Science, Jacobs University Bremen (now Constructor University). Thesis: “Advancing quantitative methods for complex social-ecological system research: a case study of aquaculture”

2017–2019

M. Sc. International Studies in Aquatic Tropical Ecology, University of Bremen

2009–2012

B. Sc. Biologie, Iowa State University, USA

Curriculum Vitae

Since 2026

Postdoctoral Scientist, Project “SharedSeas”, Center for Life Ethics, University of Bonn

2024–2026

Postdoctoral Scientist, Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT), Bremen

2020–2023
PhD candidate, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen

Publications

Journal Articles

Eisenack, K. , G. Epstein , L. Finzel , E. Kellner, B. Nagel, S. Partelow, M. Roggero, S. Villamayor-Tomas. 2025. “ Synthesizing Archetypes of Social-Ecological Systems: Identifying Common Building Blocks.” Environmental Policy and Governance 35, no. 5: 882–897.
Partelow, S., B. Nagel, R. Gentry, J. Gephart, and J. Rocha. 2025. Archetypes of aquaculture development across 150 countries. Aquaculture 595:741484.
Nagel, B., E. Anggraini, N. Buhari, S. Gray, S. Partelow, and A. Schlüter. 2024a. Mental models of aquaculture governance in Indonesia. Sustainability Science.
Nagel, B., N. Buhari, and S. Partelow. 2024b. Archetypes of community-based pond aquaculture in Indonesia: applying the social-ecological systems framework to examine sustainability tradeoffs. Environmental Research Letters 19(4):044026.
Partelow, S., F. Asif, C. Béné, S. Bush, A. O. Manlosa, B. Nagel, A. Schlüter, V. M. Chadag, A. Choudhury, S. M. Cole, R. S. Cottrell, S. Gelcich, R. Gentry, J. A. Gephart, M. Glaser, T. R. Johnson, M. Jonell, G. Krause, A. Kunzmann, H. Kühnhold, D. C. Little, M. J. Marschke, D. D. Mizuta, A. O. Paramita, N. Pin, N. D. Salayo, G. D. Stentiford, J. Stoll, M. Troell, and G. M. Turchini. 2023a. Aquaculture governance: five engagement arenas for sustainability transformation. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 65:101379.
Partelow, S., B. Nagel, A. O. Paramita, and N. Buhari. 2023b. Seafood consumption changes and COVID19 impact index in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. PLOS ONE 18(1):e0280134.
Riany, C. F., S. Partelow, and B. Nagel. 2023. Governance challenges for Indonesian pond aquaculture: a case study of milkfish production in Gresik. Frontiers in Aquaculture 2.
Nagel, B., and S. Partelow. 2022. A methodological guide for applying the social-ecological system (SES) framework: a review of quantitative approaches. Ecology and Society 27(4):art39.
Partelow, S., A. Schlüter, A. Manlosa, B. Nagel, and A. Paramita. 2022. Governing aquaculture commons. Reviews in Aquaculture 14(2):729–750.
Kriegl, M., L. C. Kluger, E. Holzkämper, B. Nagel, S. Kochalski, and P. Gorris. 2021. How Important are Social Networks in Times of Environmental Crises? easy_social_sciences(66):11–20.
Nagel, B. 2021. Social Network Analysis as a Tool for Studying Livelihood Adaptation to Climate Change: Insights from Rural Bangladesh. Human Ecology Review 26(2):147–169.

Contributions to edited volumes

Makris, J., M. Kriegl, B. Nagel, and A. Schlüter. 2025. Participatory modeling of institutional dynamics: Navigating epistemological challenges in fuzzy cognitive mapping. Researching Institutions in Natural Resource Governance. Routledge.