C. Anne Claus

C. Anne Claus is an associate professor in the department of anthropology.

As an interdisciplinary scholar in anthropology and environmental studies, Prof. Claus investigates sustainable development and marine resource use through the lens of historical environmental relations. She approaches the intersection of resources, perceptions, and politics using anthropological data collection methods—conducting interviews, surveys, archival research, and participant observation. Amidst intensifying use of marine resources worldwide and climate-induced changes in the ocean, her research contributes to understanding how coastal residents meaningfully transform oceanic engagements.

Prof. Claus recently returned from conducting research for her second book project on sustainable seafood and cooking practices in Japan. She is also currently undertaking ethnographic research into wasted food in Washington D.C. with a team of students. Prof. Claus’s first book Drawing the Sea Near: Satoumi and Coral Reef Conservation in Okinawa (University of Minnesota Press, 2020) illuminates the real challenges and possibilities of work within the multifaceted transnational structures of global conservation organizations. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on these topics.

Claus holds a Ph.D. and M.Ph. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from Yale University, an M.A. in Ecological Anthropology from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and a B.A. in Japanese Studies and Anthropology from the University of Iowa. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Fulbright, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Tropical Resources Institute, and the Yale Council on East Asian Studies.