- Marine social sciences
- Small-scale fisheries and coastal livelihoods
- Marine conservation and protected areas
- Social values of fisheries and trade
- Seafood value chains and markets
- Participatory methods and transdisciplinarity
Liz Drury O’Neill is a marine social scientist researching coastal livelihoods, fishery markets and small-scale fishery governance with an interest in multidimensional human wellbeing.
Liz Frury O'Neill is currently working on the project Patron of the Seas, which explores patron-client relationships in small-scale fisheries and their role in long-term adaptation and sustainable livelihoods. In these systems, patrons—traders/intermediaries/middlemen—provide fishers with flexible loans or credit in exchange for loyalty and seafood supply. These ties, though essential in contexts with little formal support, can create financial and moral debt, entrench dependency, and potentially incentivise unsustainable fishing. This multi-method project in the Philippines aims to critically examine whether patronage supports or hinders sustainable development. It combines interpretive research, behavioural economics, and participatory workshops to understand how fishers and traders navigate changing markets and resources, and how they envision the future of patronage.
Drury O'Neill is also chair of the research ethics committee at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. She ensures internal ethics review processes, monitors current legal and policy developments, coordinates awareness and training for staff and students with the committee and teaching staff, and facilitates peer learning on ethical research dilemmas and practical case studies.
Previously, Liz worked with the OctoPINTS project, where she explored trade-offs in octopus fishery closures in Zanzibar, and with the FoRel project that used forum theatre as a way to explore everyday climate change experiences in Kenya and Mozambique. In all three projects, she developed storytelling initiatives—written and audio—to centre coastal voices, available on her website.
She holds a PhD in Sustainability Science from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, her thesis “Catching values of small-scale fisheries: A look at markets, trade relations and fisher behaviour”, based in Zanzibar and the Philippines, explored small-scale fisheries trade, markets and the accompanying relationships- particularly gender roles and patronage in seafood value chains. This work was part of the Sida-funded STEP (Seafood Trade, Ecosystems & People) project. Liz holds an Honours degree in Marine Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Master's in Marine Biology from the University of the Algarve in Faro, Portugal.
For more information about Liz and her work, visit https://lizdruryoneill.com
Key publications
Elizabeth Drury O'Neill, Tim Daw, Lorna Slade, Fatma Khamis, Salim Nassor, Mbarouk, Jineth Berrío-Martínez, Andrew Wamukota, Rosemarie N. Mwaipopo & Emilie Lindkvist (2024) Multidimensional human wellbeing in periodic octopus closures in Zanzibar,
Ecosystems and People, 20:1, 2412616.
E Drury O'Neill, TM Daw, MWAMBAO, RN Mwaipopo, E Lindkvist. The complexity of compliance–Diverse responses to octopus fishery closures in Zanzibar. People and Nature 2024;6: 2543–2563.
MM García, C Abunge, SO Bandeira, C Cheupe, DJ Combane, T Daw, Elizabeth O’Neill, Tilman Hertz, Marlino Eugenio Mubai, Nyawira Muthiga, Taís S González, Halimu Shauri. Exploring a process-relational approach to qualitative research methods for sustainability science. People and Nature 2024;6: 1512–1523.
Drury O’Neill E, Lindahl T, Daw T, Crona B, Ferrer AJG and Pomeroy R (2019) An Experimental Approach to Exploring Market Responses in Small-Scale Fishing Communities. Front. Mar. Sci. 6:491. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00491
E Drury O’Neill, B Crona, AJG Ferrer, R Pomeroy. From typhoons to traders: the role of patron-client relations in mediating fishery responses to natural disasters. Environmental Research Letters 14 (4), 045015
