Dr. Yael Teff Seker, (Ph.D.)

Yael Teff Seker Portrait

Lecturer
Researcher

she/her
2270 SS&H
Office Hours
Wednesdays, 1pm-3pm in-person, 3pm-4pm online
(Please confirm your arrival time by email - [email protected])

About

Yael Teff-Seker has a Ph.D. in Conflict Studies. Her teaching focuses on social conflict and cooperation, environmental policy and ethics, gender, critical theories, and social psychology. She was a visiting professor at UC Davis between 2020-2023, and is currently a lecturer at the UC Davis Department of Sociology. Previously, Dr. Teff-Seker was a post-doctoral fellow at the Technion and Haifa University, and a fellow at the Arava Institute, focusing on social aspects of environmental policy and planning. Her research and publications focus on stakeholder engagement, marine conservation, sustainable development, environmental peacebuilding, science diplomacy, and cultural ecosystem services, as well as peace education and environmental education. 

Link to ResearchGate profile and publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yael-Seker

Education and Degree(s)
  • PhD in Conflict Studies
  • MA in Conflict Studies
  • BA in Comparative Literature
Honors and Awards
  • UC Davis Humanities and Social Sciences Stimulating Exceptional and Essential Discovery (S.E.E.D.) Funding Program
  • EB-1A Immigrant with Extraordinary Scientific Ability
Courses
  • SOC 1 (Intro to Sociology), SOC 132 (Gender), SOC 157 (Conflict), SOC 160 (Society and Environment, including 2027 Summer Abroad Intensive program), SOC 171 (Violence), and SOC 172 (Intersectionality), SOC 195 (Special topic seminar: Social Solutions)
  • Previously taught courses: RST 10-A (Env. Ethics) HMR 190 (Env. Justice), SOC 295 (Social Values of Nature), REL 230 (Environment and Religion).
Research Interests & Expertise
  • Environment, Conflict, Peacebuilding, Education, Socialization, Planning and Policy
  • Theories: Conflict Theory (Sociology), Social Psychology, Game Theory, EBM, Ecosystem Services, MFC
Publications
  • Darnaude, A. M., Tanner, S. E., [...], Seker, Y. T., Pérez‐Ruzafa, A., ... & Hunter, E. (2026). Shaping research in marine functional connectivity for integrated and effective marine science and management. Biological Reviews, 101(3), 1143-1180.
  • Hibel, L. C., Sigal, M., & Teff-Seker, Y. (2025). Mental health in Californian Jews before and after October 7, 2023. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
  • Teff-Seker, Y., & Mackelworth, P. (2025). Geopolitics and marine conservation. In Routledge handbook of critical ocean studies (pp. 211-219). Taylor and Francis.
  • Rossi, V., Pipitone, C., Yates, K. L., Badalamenti, F., D’anna, G., Pita, C.....Teff-Seker, Y., ... Vega-Fernandez, T. & Goldsborough, D. (2024). Poor online information on European marine protected areas impairs public participation under the Aarhus Convention. Marine policy, 161, 106012.
  • Kedem, R., Teff-Seker, Y., Halasah, S., Feitelson, E. (2023). Towards a typology of environmental cooperation in post-conflict settings: the case of Jordan and Israel. Journal of Global Environmental Politics. IF=3.1, Q1.
  • Furst, B., Portman, M. E., & Teff-Seker, Y. (2023). Activism or egotism? A critical view of the NIMBY phenomenon in cases of energy infrastructure in Israel. GeoJournal, 1-18. IF=2.7.
  • Dick, J., Andrews, C., Orenstein, D., Teff-Seker, Y., and Zulien, G. (Accepted July 2022). A mixed-methods approach for analyzing recreational values and implications for management of protected areas: a case study of Cairngorms National Park, UK. Ecosystem Services. IF=5.45, Q1.
  • Teff-Seker, Y., Rasilo, T. Dick, J. Goldsborough, D., and Orenstein, D.E. (2022). What does nature feel like? Using embodied walking interviews to discover cultural ecosystem services Ecosystem Services. Ecosystem Services 55, 101425. IF=5.45, Q1.
  • Teff-Seker, Y., Berger-Tal, O., Lehnardt, Y., & Teschner, N. (2022). Noise pollution from wind turbines and its effects on wildlife: A cross-national analysis of current policies and planning regulations. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 168, 112801. IF=14.98, Q1.
  • Darnaude, A. M., Teff-Seker, Y.; Costantini,…Hunter, E. The SEA-UNICORN European COST Action: Advancing Knowledge on Marine Connectivity to Support Transition to a Sustainable Blue Economy. Marine Technology Society Journal, Vol. 3, May/June 2022, pp. 134-135. (IF=0.71).
  • Teff-Seker, Y., Segre, H., Eizenberg, E., Orenstein, D. E., & Shwartz, A. (2021). Factors influencing farmer and resident willingness to adopt an agri-environmental scheme in Israel. Journal of Environmental Management, 302, 114066. IF=4.62, Q1. 9.
  • Teff-Seker, Y., Mackelworth, P., Nam, J.H., Tuda, A. Vega Fernández, T., & McManus, J. (2020) “Do Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Track Two Processes Support Transboundary Marine Conservation? Lessons from six case studies of maritime disputes”. Frontiers in Marine Science. IF=4.91, Q1.
  • Katsanevakis, S., Coll, M., Fraschetti, S, ... Teff-Seker, Y. & Yates, A. E. (2020). Twelve recommendations for advancing marine conservation in European and contiguous seas. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 879.‏ IF=4.91, Q1.
  • Teff-Seker, Y. (2020). Peace and conflict in Israeli state-approved textbooks: 2000-2018. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 52(4), 533-550.‏ IF=2.62, Q1.
  • Mackelworth, P., Teff-Seker, Y., Vega Fernandez…& Warr, S. (2019) “Geopolitics and Marine Conservation: Synergies and Conflicts”. Frontiers in Marine Science. IF=4.91, Q1.
  • Teff-Seker, Y., Rubin, A., & Eiran, E. (2019). Israel’s ‘turn to the sea’ and its effect on Israeli regional policy. Israel Affairs, 25(2), 234-255.‏ IF=0.38, Q3.
  • Teff-Seker, Y. & Orenstein, D. E., The “Desert Experience: Evaluating the Cultural Ecosystem Services of Drylands through Walking and Focusing”. People and Nature, vol 1:2, June 2019, pp. 234-248. (New journal, British Ecological Society, IF =7.2).
  • Teff-Seker, Y. & Portman, M. E., Kaplan-Mintz, K. (2019). “Problem and Project Based Learning as a Tool for Environmental Education: A study of graduate planning students”, Case Studies in the Environment, April, 2019.
  • Kosel, S., Teff-Seker, Y., Orenstein, D. & Gruner, E. (2019) “Group Identity and Political Barriers: Jordanian and Israeli Narratives of Env. Scientific Cooperation” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. IF= 1.17.
  • Portman, M. E., & Teff-Seker, Y. (2017). Factors of success and failure for transboundary environmental cooperation: projects in the Gulf of Aqaba. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 19(6), 810-826.‏ Ranking: IF=1.195; Q1.
  • Teff-Seker, Y., Eiran, E., & Rubin, A. (2018). Israel Turns to the Sea. Middle East Journal, 72(4), 610-630.‏ IF=0.619; Q3.
  • Portman, M. E., & Teff-Seker, Y. (2017). Community-level environmental projects as learning tools for planners: a case study of graduate planning students. Environmental Education Research, 23(3), 415-435.
  • Teff-Seker, Y. (2021) “Using Focusing and Thinking At the Edge for Science”. In Kypriotakis, N. and Moore, J. (Eds.), Senses of Focusing. Chapter 19, pp. 435-436.
  • Teff-Seker, Y. (2017) "Attitudes towards the "Other" and Jewish Israeli Identity in Israeli Schoolbooks" in: Podeh, E. and Alayan, S. (Eds.) Multiple Alterities: Views of Others in School Textbooks of the Middle East.
  • Portman, M. & Teff-Seker, Y. (2016). Remembering the Red Sea Marine Peace Park. In Mackelworth, P. (Ed.) Marine Transboundary Conservation and Protected Areas, 89-110.
  • Jarić, I., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Molnár, Z., Arbieu, U., Canavan, S., Correia, R. A., ... & Jeschke, J. M. (2025). Cultural integration of invasive species. npj Biodiversity, 4(1), 25.
Documents