Christopher Barton

Chris J. Barton is the Assistant Director of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes and Assistant Research Professor within the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. His research maps the politics of knowledge in global development and conservation, with the goal of enabling respectful and productive collaboration across cultures and knowledge systems. His geographic areas of focus include northern South America (especially Guyana), and Polynesia. He has written on how knowledge is used and produced in conservation, on how ideas which offer panaceas for difficult problems come to influence development policy, and about the role of Indigenous and local knowledge systems in addressing complex global challenges. 

Chris also works in executive administration at ASU, helping manage ASU’s work in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. In this role, he works with community partners to advance navigation-based education and marine conservation initiatives.

Chris holds a PhD in Innovation in Global Development, as well as a Bachelor’s in Sustainability and a Masters in Global Affairs and Management. He has previously worked as an entrepreneur, a consultant, a writer and editor, and a middle school teacher. He has experience working in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, and Germany.