# Karen Fisher (geographer)

Karen Fisher is a New Zealand human geographer, and is a full professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in freshwater and marine socio-ecological systems.

## Academic career

Fisher is Māori, and affiliates to Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato-Tainui iwi. She completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Social Science at the University of Waikato, before moving to Australia to complete a PhD at the Australian National University. Fisher then joined the faculty of the University of Auckland in 2008, rising to full professor in 2024.
Fisher's research involves freshwater and marine socio-ecological systems. She is interested in sustainable development and environmental management, and has written about the importance of taking a 'mountains-to-the-sea' approach to environmental management in New Zealand, and why New Zealand should have a Ministry for the Ocean. In 2015 Fisher and collaborator Meg Parsons were awarded a Marsden grant Rethinking the future of freshwater in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research project was aimed at understanding different cultural approaches to freshwater management, to enable better management approaches, and focused on working with Ngāti Maniopoto, local councils and landowners on the management of the Waipā river.
Fisher is a synthesis strand leader in the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge. She is also a part of the team, led by Lincoln Agritech, researching the effect of increased carbon dioxide levels on freshwater ecosystems through a $10 million MBIE Endeavour fund grant, Safeguarding Te Mana o te Awa o Waikato from emerging climatic pressures. Fisher is one of the environmental governance experts involved in research on blue carbon legal frameworks led by Elizabeth MacPherson.

## Honours and awards

Fisher was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from the New Zealand Geographical Society in 2022.

## Selected works

* Kathryn K. Davies; Karen T. Fisher; Mark E. Dickson; Simon F. Thrush; Richard Le Heron (2015). "Improving ecosystem service frameworks to address wicked problems". Ecology and Society. 20 (2). doi:10.5751/ES-07581-200237. ISSN 1708-3087. Wikidata Q60020717.
* Karen T. Fisher (10 February 2014). "Positionality, subjectivity, and race in transnational and transcultural geographical research". Gender. 22 (4): 456–473. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2013.879097. ISSN 0966-369X. Wikidata Q64173921.
* Meg Parsons; Karen Fisher; Johanna Nalau (June 2016). "Alternative approaches to co-design: insights from indigenous/academic research collaborations". Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 20: 99–105. doi:10.1016/J.COSUST.2016.07.001. ISSN 1877-3435. Wikidata Q58731169.
* Meg Parsons; Johanna Nalau; Karen Fisher; Cilla Brown (27 April 2019). "Disrupting path dependency: Making room for Indigenous knowledge in river management". Global Environmental Change. 56: 95–113. doi:10.1016/J.GLOENVCHA.2019.03.008. ISSN 0959-3780. Wikidata Q112606205.
* Meg Parsons; Cilla Brown; Johanna Nalau; Karen Fisher (10 December 2017). "Assessing adaptive capacity and adaptation: insights from Samoan tourism operators". Climate and Development. 10 (7): 644–663. doi:10.1080/17565529.2017.1410082. ISSN 1756-5537. Wikidata Q58731112.
* Meg Parsons; Johanna Nalau; Karen Fisher (22 February 2017). "Alternative Perspectives on Sustainability: Indigenous Knowledge and Methodologies". Challenges in Sustainability. 5 (1). doi:10.12924/CIS2017.05010007. ISSN 2297-6477. Wikidata Q64170225.