Gaea Morales 

I am the Rigali Assistant Professor of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. Previously, I was the 2025-2026 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow on Contemporary Asia at the Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) at Stanford University.

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, 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. In my book project, I interrogate the motivations and mechanisms by which city government bureaucrats "localize" international environmental agreements, and by extension, these processes' normative and material outcomes. Much of my research covers topics at the intersection of global and local governance, including international law and organizations and (sub)state capacity, with a focus on climate and environmental politics. I have a regional interest in Southeast Asia, and have conducted extensive fieldwork across major coastal capitals: Metro Manila, Philippines; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Bangkok, Thailand.