Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Brian Szuster

Dr. Brian Szuster (UHM Dept of Geography and Environment) has just been awarded a grant under the Fulbright ASEAN Research Program to study the social capital needs of small independent shrimp farmers across Southeast Asia. The grant period is from October 2022 to March 2023; and his collaborators include institutes in three Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia (Center for Fisheries Research), Thailand (Kasetsart University), and Vietnam (Can Tho University). His work will also involve training on community-supported fisheries (CSF), a marketing model developed in the United States to support sustainable low-intensity seafood production. The first CSF workshop will take place in Bangladesh during November 2022 in collaboration with the Center on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP). Transferring knowledge of CSF practices to Southeast Asia could advance regional knowledge of alternative seafood marketing strategies, and improve rural livelihoods in shrimp farming communities throughout the region.

About Dr. Szuster

Dr. Szuster’s research interests focus on two broad themes: sustainable seafood production in Thailand and coastal tourism in Hawaiʻi. In both cases, development has occurred without adequate planning, and my research contributes to both understanding social and environmental impacts of development and creating more sustainable communities. He has over 30 refereed publications and recently co-chaired the 8th International Congress on Coastal and Marine Tourism in Waikaloa, Hawaiʻi. Dr. Szuster is also the Undergraduate Chair in the Geography Department and serves on the executive committee of the UH Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

You can find more information about Dr. Szuster on the Department of Geography and Environment’s webpage:

To view Dr. Szuster’s Coastal Geography Lab, visit the lab’s website [new window]

To learn more about Dr. Szuster’s Publications, go to Research Gate [new window]