Staff Profile

Marine (Yaqin) Liu

Preferred Name: Marine

Preferred Pronouns: Yaqin

Assistant Scientist

Marine Policy Center

Email: yaqliu@whoi.edu

Phone: 508 289 3376

Website: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-2093-1166

Lab/Group Site: https://www2.whoi.edu/site/marineeconlab/

Education

B.S. in Geographic Information Science, Wuhan University, China
M.S. in Environmental Economics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Ph.D. in Economics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

Research Statement

Marine (Yaqin) Liu is an Assistant Scientist and environmental economist who leads the MarineEcon Lab at WHOI. Her research examines coupled human–natural systems in marine and coastal environments, with a particular emphasis on how economic behavior interacts with ecological change. She develops models of fisher decision-making, evaluates the performance of resource management institutions, and analyzes ecosystem feedbacks. Her work applies these tools across diverse settings, including coral reef fisheries, global seafood trade, climate adaptation, and offshore wind development.

In 2024, Liu co-authored “Economic Gains from Individual Fishing Quotas: The Norwegian Coastal Groundfish Fisheries” in the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, using difference-in-differences to show that even restrictive quota systems can increase catch efficiency and market value. She also published “Impacts of Reef Degradation on Commercial Fisheries” in Marine Resource Economics, demonstrating that coral loss significantly reduces yields for reef-dependent species across nine Great Barrier Reef fisheries.

Her methodological work includes “Non-parametric Tests of Behavior in the Commons” in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, which introduces tools for evaluating resource use behavior under different institutional regimes.

In 2025, she co-authored “The Global Seafood Trade, Embodied Nutrients, and Nutritional Affordability” in Nature Communications, analyzing how seafood trade influences nutrient access and food availability in low- and middle-income countries.

Together, her research supports data-driven marine policy and deepens understanding of human-environment dynamics in ocean systems.

Google Scholar

2025 Early Career Scientist Award