Nives Dolšak, Ph.D.

Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Director, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

Stan and Alta Barer Endowed Professorship in Sustainability Science in honor of Edward L. Miles

Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science

Affiliate Faculty, The Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Affiliate Faculty, Canadian and Arctic Studies, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Affiliate Faculty, Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and Planning

Research areas

Nives Dolšak studies how common pool resources are governed. She looks at the role of community action, social capital, market-based instruments, as well as traditional regulatory policies. Her research has examined these issues in the context of Washington State, the United States, Eastern and Central Europe, as well as the whole world. A special area of focus is on global climate change policies that have been developed and implemented from the local to international level. She has published in leading journals of environmental studies, public policy, and nonprofits. She was nominated by Governor Inslee to serve on the Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council. She is also a member of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Science Panel. As a private citizen and not representing the views of the University of Washington, she also contributes to public scholarship via platforms such as The Washington Post, The Hill, Slate, Huffpost, The Conversation, Regulatory Review, Forbes.com, and Opendemocracy. Dr. Dolšak received her Joint Ph.D. in Public Policy and International Relations from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Dr. Dolšak teaches:

  • SMEA 201: Climate Governance
  • SMEA 507: International Organizations and Ocean Management
  • SMEA 519: Marine Policy Analysis
  • SMEA 521: Governmental Responses to Global Climate Change
  • SMEA 530: Economic Development and the Environment

Selected publications

Refereed Books

Nives Dolšak and Elinor Ostrom (editors). 2003. The Commons in the New Millennium: Challenges and Adaptation. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press (2nd Print).

Elinor Ostrom, Thomas Dietz, Nives Dolšak, Paul Stern, Susan Stonich, and Elke Weber (editors). 2002. The Drama of the Commons. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press.

Refereed Journal Articles

A. Uji, Jaehyun Song, Nives Dolšak, and Aseem Prakash. 2025. Penalty or Premium for Foreign Ownership in Thailand? Comparing Public Support for Waste-to-Energy Plants Operated by Thai, Japanese, and Chinese Companies. PLOS ONE, 20(7): e0328165.

L. Andonova, Agnese Zucca, Simon Monfort, Nives Dolšak, and Aseem Prakash. 2025. International Climate Adaptation Assistance: Assessing Public Support in Switzerland. PLOS ONE, 20(2): e0317344.

A. Uji, Jaehyun Song, Nives Dolšak, and Aseem Prakash. 2025. Post-Materialism and Environmental Protection Revisited: Plastic Bags Regulations, 1992-2019. Global Environmental Politics, 25 (1): 46–66.

J. Foxe, Nives Dolšak, and Aseem Prakash. 2024. Varieties of Climate Activism: Assessing Public Support for Mainstream and Unorthodox Climate Action in the United Kingdom. Environmental Research Communications, 6:111006.

K. Morton, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2024. Issue linkage and climate votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, 2007-2020. PLOS Climate, 23(9): e0000440023.

A Uji, J. Song, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2024. Willingness to incur private costs for climate adaptation? Public support for undergrounding electricity transmission lines in California. Energy Policy, 2024, 191:114182.

N. Mrchkovska, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2024. Morality Meets Menu: Investigating the Impact of Moral Appeals on Vegetarianism through a Conjoint Survey Experiment. Climatic Change, 177, 38 (2024).

N. Mrchkovska, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. Does ESG privilege Climate Action over Social and Governance Issues? A Content Analysis of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s Annual Letters. PLOS Sustain Transform, 2(12): e0000090

I. Ko, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. Wind turbines as new smokestacks: Preserving ruralness and restrictive land-use ordinances across U.S. counties. PLOS ONE, 18(12): e0294563.

A. Uji, J. Song, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. Comparing Public Support for Nuclear and Wind Energy in Washington State. PLOS ONE, 18(4): e0284208.

L. Kinyon, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. Climate Action by Vandalizing Museums: When, Where, and Who? npj Climate Action, 2023, 2(27).

A. Uji, J. Song, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. Does Partisanship Shape Public Support for Suspending U.S. Federal Gas Tax? PLOS Climate, 2(6): e0000163.

N. Mohlakoana, M. Lokhat, N. Dolšak, and A. Prakash. 2023. Varieties of Just Transition: Public Support in South Africa’s Mpumalanga Coal Community for Different Policy Options. PLOS Climate, 2(5): e0000205.

A. Uji, J. Song, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. Does Partisanship Shape Public Support for Suspending U.S. Federal Gas Tax? PLOS Climate, 2(6): e0000163.

A. Uji, J. Song, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2023. “Pursuing Decarbonization along with National Security: Assessing Public Support for the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine.” PLOS ONE, 2023, 18(1) e0280720.

I. Ko, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2022. “Have Renewable Energy Leaders Announced Aggressive Emission Reduction Goals? Examining Variations in the Stringency of Country-level Net-Zero Emission Pledges.” PLOS Clim, 1(11): e0000094.

M. Carmack, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2022. “Electoral appeal of climate policies: The Green New Deal and the 2020 U.S. House of Representatives elections.” PLOS Clim, (6): e0000043.

S. Lim, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash, S. Tanaka. 2022. “Distributional Concerns and Public Opinion: EV Subsidies in the U.S. and Japan.” Energy Policy, 164:112883.

N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2022. “Three Faces of Climate Justice.” Annual Review of Political Science, 25:1, 283-301.

L. Evans, N. Dolšak, A. Prakash. 2022. Do Windy Areas have more Wind Turbines: An Empirical Analysis of Wind Installed Capacity in Native Tribal Nations. PLOS ONE, 17(2): e0261752.