Pacific, Climate & Environment Profile Series: Constance Rambourg
As AFRAN celebrates 10 years of connecting people, knowledge and expertise across France, Australia and the Pacific, our Pacific, Climate & Environment Profile Series continues to highlight the people whose work contributes to a more sustainable, resilient and connected region.
Today, we are pleased to feature Constance Rambourg, Research Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, and Course Coordinator for Ocean Conservation and Development. Her work sits at the intersection of fisheries, marine conservation, law and ocean governance, with a particular focus on Pacific Island countries.
At the heart of her research is an essential question for the Pacific: how can we protect marine ecosystems while ensuring that the communities who depend on their resources can continue to thrive?
From France to the Pacific
Originally from France, Constance has a double degree in French and English law. Her connection with the Pacific began somewhat unexpectedly when she travelled to New Zealand on a working holiday visa. That experience sparked an interest in both the region and the ocean that would ultimately shape her career. After New Zealand, she moved to Australia and joined ANCORS, first for her Master's degree, then for her PhD, and now as a Research Fellow. Her doctoral research focused on marine protected areas, while her work today extends across fisheries and marine conservation law and policy. Having now spent around seven years in the Pacific, Constance works closely with Pacific Island countries and policymakers, bringing together legal research and the practical realities of managing ocean resources.
Connecting fisheries and marine conservation
One idea is central to Constance's work: fisheries and marine conservation should not be treated separately.
Across the Pacific, the ocean is simultaneously an ecosystem to protect and a source of food, income and livelihoods for communities. Sustainable ocean governance therefore requires finding ways to protect marine environments while recognising the needs of the people who rely on their resources. This connection runs throughout her research, from sustainable fisheries and high-seas marine protected areas to international fisheries governance. It also means thinking beyond conservation as simply restricting human activity. Instead, the challenge is to develop legal and policy frameworks that allow marine resources to be used sustainably while maintaining healthy ecosystems over the long term.
From law to technology
Ocean governance is also changing as new technologies become available. One area of Constance's research explores the use of remote sensing technologies for fisheries enforcement and prosecution. These tools can provide new ways of monitoring activities across vast ocean spaces—an issue of particular relevance in a region where countries are responsible for managing enormous maritime areas. But technology and legal frameworks are only part of the solution. For Constance, stronger collaboration across disciplines and greater recognition of Indigenous knowledge can contribute to more holistic approaches to marine conservation and resource management. Pacific communities themselves hold valuable knowledge and experience of both sustainable fisheries and regional cooperation.
A region built on cooperation
Working across the Pacific has also given Constance a strong appreciation of the region's capacity for collaboration. Pacific Island countries face many shared challenges in managing and protecting their marine resources. But these common challenges can also create a strong incentive to work together, exchange experiences and develop regional responses.
As Constance puts it:
“Because they have a common goal, Pacific Island countries have a common need to sustainably exploit their resources. This contributes a strong spirit of collaboration.”
Rather than viewing the Pacific solely as a region facing environmental pressures, her work also highlights the knowledge and experience Pacific countries can contribute to global conversations about sustainable ocean governance.
Connecting France, Australia and the Pacific
Constance's French background adds another dimension to her work in the region. Working primarily with Pacific Island countries and policymakers, she sees her French connection as an asset for building trust and strengthening relationships with Pacific partners. This positioning—between France, Australia and the wider Pacific—also reflects the kind of connections AFRAN seeks to foster.
A member of AFRAN for around two years, Constance values the network as a space where people with shared international connections but very different areas of expertise can meet, exchange ideas and discover each other's research. For her, these networks are an important part of strengthening relationships across France, Australia and the Pacific.
As AFRAN celebrates its first decade, Constance's work reminds us that sustainable ocean governance cannot be achieved through one discipline, one country or one form of knowledge alone. It requires connecting conservation and sustainable resource use, law and technology, scientific and Indigenous knowledge, and regional and international cooperation. Because in a region connected by one ocean, managing that ocean sustainably is necessarily a shared endeavour.
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