Dr Betsi Beem

BA: FIU; MA, PhD University of Washington

 

Phone

+61 2 9351 6599

Address

Room 296
Faculty of Arts
H04 - Merewether

Email

Dr. Beem’s interests include the intersection of international and domestic policy and politics in governing the environment. She examines the ways in which science or other forms of expert knowledge gain authority in political decision making, while also attending to agenda setting and institutional dynamics. The interaction of issue frames, decision venues, and advocacy groups that transcends national borders in environmental policymaking is of particular interest.

Dr. Beem’s research focuses on marine policy and protected areas and she has done extensive work on the roles of science and policy learning in the development of fisheries policies for the management of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. Her current research projects include evaluating the dynamics of change that led to the re-zoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park; examining implementation of the World Heritage Convention the United States, Canada, and Australia, and how policy instruments create new domestic political institutions that may provide opportunities or constraints to national and international advocacy groups; and a comparison of marine protection policies in the US and Australia.

She has been awarded the following research grants:

  • 2009: Canada Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Understanding Canada Faculty Research Program
  • 2007: University of Sydney, Research and Development Grant
  • 2006: University of Sydney, School of Social and Political Science Research Grant

She is actively engaged in the international community of academics examining these issues, holding the following positions:
• Member of the Board of Directors of The Coastal Society (US)
• Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis
• Guest Editor, Special Edition on Leadership in Coastal policy, Coastal Management (2010)

She is also a member of the following organizations:
• American Political Science Association
• International Studies Association
• Australian Political Science Association

Dr. Beem is also committed to career development and teaching. In 2006 she initiated and currently runs the Making Policy Work initiative, a program designed to educate students about policy relevant careers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors and to build connections between university students and practitioners. In addition to a weekly email list and webpage, she holds periodic workshops to enhance career skills and decision-making.

Her student focused teaching philosophy and innovative teaching approaches that use “serious games” to enhance learning outcomes contributed to her being awarded the 2008 Faculty of Arts Excellence in Teaching (Design and Practice) Award.

Units of Study:
GOVT2552: Policy Analysis (2005, -06, -07, -09)
GOVT2557: Public Sector Management (2006, -07)
GOVT6331: International Public Management (2006, -07, -08)
GOVT6116: International Organisations (2008)
USSC6902: US Politics: Competing Centres of Power (2008)
GOVT6316: Policy Making: Power, Power, and Politics (2009)

Research Interests

  • International relations
  • Policy and Administration

Publications

2009

Journals

Beem B, Mikler J 2009 "National Regulations for a Borderless Industry: US versus UK Approaches to Online Gambling." Submitted to Public Administration

Beem B 2009 “Learning the wrong lessons: policy learning in the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery.” Under revisions at Public Understanding of Science.

Beem B 2009 “Leaders in thinking, laggards in attention? Bureaucratic engagement in international arenas” forthcoming in Policy Studies Journal.

2008

Journals

Beem B, Thompson D, Treleaven L, Kamvounias P and Hill E 2008 “Integrating Graduate Attributes with Assessment Criteria in Business Education: Using an Online Assessment System” Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice 5(1): 34-48.

Conference Paper/s

Beem B 2008 “Bureaucratic Expertise, International Advocacy, and Policy entrepreneurs: Re-Zoning the Great Barrier Reef” The Coastal Society's 21st Biennial Conference. Redondo Beach, CA. June 29 - July 2, 2008.

Beem B 2008 “Bureaucratic autonomy, international networks, and issue framing: Re-Zoning the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park” 2008 Australasian Political Science Association Annual Conference. Brisbane, Qld. July 6-9, 2008.

Beem B and Mikler J 2008 “Regulating the Digital Commons: US and UK Approaches to On‐Line Gambling” Presented at the 49th Annual Research Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco. March 26-29.

Beem B2008. “International Expertise and Domestic Advocacy: Bureaucratic Autonomy and Policy Change.” Presented at the Annual Research Meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Los Angeles, November 6 - 8, 2008.

2007

Journals

Beem B 2007 “Co-Management from the Top?: The Roles of Policy Entrepreneurs and Distributive Conflict in Developing Co-Management Arrangements” Marine Policy 31(4): 450-459

Publication/s

Beem B 2007 “Co-Management from the Top?: The Roles of Policy Entrepreneurs and Distributive Conflict in Developing Co-Management Arrangements” Marine Policy 31(4)

Conference Paper/s

Beem B 2007 “Leaders in thinking, laggards in attention?: Rezoning the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.” Paper presented at the Annual Research Meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Washington DC, November 8-10.

Beem B2007 “Framing science: the roles of consensus, capacity and cognition in re-zoning the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park” Coastal Zone 2007, Portland, Oregon. July 22 to 26, 2007.

Journal Article/s

Beem B 2007 'Co-Management from the Top?: The roles of policy entrepreneurs and distributive conflict in developing co-management arrangements', Marine Policy, vol.31:4, pp. 540-49.

Beem B 2007 forthcoming 'Institutions, Evidence and Persuasion in Chesapeake Bay', Global Environment Politics.

2006

Journal Article/s

Beem B 2006 “Mutating Science: the Politics of Biotechnology” Australian Review of Public Affairs 7(2): November 2006

Beem B 2006 “Planning to Learn: Blue Crab Policymaking in the Chesapeake Bay.” Coastal Management 34(2): 167-182

Beem B 2006 'Mutating Science: the Politics of Biotechnology', Australian Review of Public Affairs, vol.7:2.

Beem B 2006 'Planning to Learn: Blue Crab Policymaking in the Chesapeake Bay', Coastal Management, vol.34:2.

Conference Paper/s

Beem B 2006 'Counting Crabs: Institutions, Evidence and Persuasion in the Chesapeake Bay' in Charting a New Course:Shaping Solutions for the Coasts',Twentieth International Conference of the Coastal Society, St Petersburg, Florida.

Beem B 2006. "Top-down Co-management? The roles of policy entrepreneurs and distributive conflict." In Survival of the Commons: Mounting Challenges and New Realities. The Eleventh Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property. Bali, Indonesia, June 19-23.

2005

Journal Article/s

May P, Jones B, Beem B, Neff-Sharum E and Pogue M 2005 'Policy Coherence and Component-Driven Policymaking: Arctic Policy in Canada and the United States', Policy Studies Journal, vol.33:1, pp. 37-63.

May P, Jones B, Beem B, Neff-Sharum E and Pogue M 2005 'Regional Policy Agglomeration: Arctic Policy in Canada and the United States', Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, vol.7:2, pp. 121-136.

Conference Paper/s

Beem B 2005 ' Getting to Co-Management: A Policy learning approach', Paper presented at the Annual Research Meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Washington, DC November 2-5,

2004

Conference Proceeding/s

Beem B 2004 'Political Consequences of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Arctic Science Relating to Climate Change', Fifth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska,May 19-23, 2004.

Beem B 2004 'Institutions and Policy Learning for Blue Crab Fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay', American Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois,September 2-5, 2004.

Beem B 2004 'Planning to Learn: Blue Crab Policymaking in the Chesapeake Bay', Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management,, Atlanta, Georgia,October 28-30, 2004.

2003

Conference Proceeding/s

Beem B 2003 'Fisheries Policy Learning: The Interplay of Information, Actors, and Venues', People and the Sea II, Amsterdam, Netherlands,September 4-6, 2003.

1997

Conference Paper/s

Beem B 1997 'Political Contestations of Shrimp Farming in Belize',Latin American Studies Conference Guadalajara, Mexico.

Current Classes

  • GOVT6316 Policy Making, Power and Politics