Gaea Morales 

I am a 2025-2026 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. Beginning Fall 2026, I will be joining Loyola University Chicago as a Rigali Assistant Professor of Political Science. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California. At USC, I served as a doctoral affiliate of the USC Security and Political Economy (SPEC) Lab, and as a Grand Strategy Predoctoral Fellow (2022-23) at the USC Korean Studies Institute and Sonosky Fellow for Environmental Sustainability Research (2022-23) at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability.

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I am motivated by questions on why and how global norms translate into local action and lived realities. I interrogate the motivations and mechanisms by which city government bureaucrats "localize" international agreements, and by extension, these processes' policy outcomes. Much of my research covers topics at the intersection of global and local governance, including international organizations, international law, and (sub)state capacity, with a thematic focus on environmental politics. I have a regional interest in Southeast Asia, and have conducted extensive fieldwork across the major coastal capitals of Metro Manila, Philippines; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Bangkok, Thailand.