January 31, 2003

MIDDLEBURY, VT - In Jon Isham’s environmental economics class last spring, senior Rob Chisholm drew on his experiences growing up in a small, lobster-fishing town in Nova Scotia to write an award-winning paper about the community’s unique resource management system. With Isham’s support, Chisholm decided to pursue the topic for his thesis, and to submit the paper, titled “Drawing the Line: Informal Property Rights in a Nova Scotia Lobster Fishery,” to the environmental economics category of the 2002 Ohio State University National Undergraduate Essay Contest. Chisholm’s paper earned first-prize distinction—shared with a student from the University of Michigan—amidst other topflight, original essays entered by students nationwide. Chisholm was notified by a Jan. 21 e-mail announcing that, in addition to his half of the $1,500 grand prize, he will receive a $250 “field prize” for the category.

“The management system used in my hometown is a ‘common-pool’ resource system,” said Chisholm, an environmental studies major with a focus on policy. “It limits access to the resource and assigns property rights to individual fishermen, informally establishing who fishes in the area immediately around the local wharf, and allowing some fishermen exclusive access to large areas on the water. This decreases potential for over-fishing in those areas.”

Essays were ranked upon such considerations as the importance and clarity of the economic problem presented, the appropriate use of economic concepts and theory, strength of conclusions and implications drawn from the analysis, and evidence of student creativity and originality. The winning papers will be recognized and published by Ohio State University within the next six months.

“When Rob turned in his first draft, it was clearly a stellar piece of research, well-written and creative. I knew right away his paper had the potential to win this national contest,” said Isham, Chisholm’s advisor.

Impressed with Middlebury College’s environmental studies, Chisholm transferred from Princeton to Middlebury to take advantage of the strength of the College’s program. At Middlebury, he sought and received a Ronald H. Brown internship that allowed him to pursue his thesis research with the Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen’s Association in Antigonish, his hometown in Nova Scotia. Chisholm spent last summer studying local fishery issues and interviewing fishermen for an independent project that will become part of his senior thesis.

“Where I’m from, in Nova Scotia, you’re either a lobster fisherman or a relative of a lobster fisherman,” commented Chisholm. “This was a great opportunity for me to apply my college education toward the good of my home community.”

According to Isham, Chisholm’s work clearly illustrated that the common use of a natural resource does not have to lead to an environmental tragedy. “Local people, under the right circumstances, can sustainably manage inshore fisheries,” said Isham. “In Rob’s paper, he shows what those conditions are,” he said.

Chisholm hopes to continue studying inshore resource management efforts around the world, traveling to other locales to research problems and solutions. He hopes, ultimately, to participate in Canadian resource policy-making, applying his expertise toward bringing into focus the human element in policy decisions.

“The lobster fishermen back in Nova Scotia work hard and well with their community toward preserving their resources for its future—and this, I believe, is indicative of many other lobster-fishing communities all the way from Maine to Newfoundland,” said Chisholm. “Policy must recognize that kind of work at the grass roots level,” he added.

While not working on his thesis studies, Chisholm—who started skating “late” in life when he was six years old—devotes a huge amount of time and energy serving as this year’s captain of the men’s hockey team, leading the top-10 Division III team in a winning season. He and his teammates also volunteer in the local Middlebury community as mentors and goal-setting program leaders for area schools in conjunction with the Cornwall, Vt.-based Foundation for Excellent Schools.

During his career as a college student, Chisholm has never taken the typical spring break vacation. He plans to put his prize money to good use this year, however, remedying that situation and rounding out his college experience.

In last year’s competition, another Middlebury athlete, Alison Connolly, class of 2002, won honorable mention for her paper titled “The North Atlantic Swordfish Industry: Improving Current Policy to Effectively Reduce Overfishing.”