Amber was born in Hawaii, where she grew up with a passion for the ocean and the communities that depend on it. This drives her research interest in the management and governance of coral reefs, which she is pursuing through her PhD research on the networks of actors that govern coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef region and Hawai’i. Amber completed a B.A. in Environmental Analysis (Biology focus) from Pomona College in 2013.

She spent 2.5 years working for The Nature Conservancy on a project to improve collaboration around key conservation issues in the Great Lakes Region (U.S.). She then completed an M.S. in Resource Conservation (option in International Conservation and Development) at the University of Montana (UM) in 2018. She also completed a certificate in Natural Resource Conflict Resolution at UM, which focuses on professional skills for collaborative conservation. Amber is enrolled as a cotutelle PhD student at JCU and the University of Montana.

She is advised by Michele Barnes (primary) and Tiffany Morrison at JCU, and by Brian Chaffin (primary), Jill Belsky, and Carina Wyborn at UM. She hopes her work will contribute to our understanding of the governance arrangements that facilitate adaptive responses to coral bleaching and other rapid environmental and social changes in coral reef systems.