Research

I study how institutions collaborate to tackle environmental challenges, from watershed management to energy transitions to technology governance.

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Research Focus

My research sits at the intersection of practice and policy, with three main areas of focus:

Collaborative Water Governance

Examining how partnerships across watershed boundaries address water quality challenges and what helps them last.

Energy Policy & Justice

Studying regulatory enforcement patterns in energy extraction and community impacts, especially in vulnerable populations.

Technology in Governance

Exploring real-time crime centers, blockchain applications for transparency, and how technology reshapes public administration.

Watershed research illustration

Selected Publications

Inspector-Level Bureaucracy: Drilling into Discretion in a State Natural Resource Agency

Naher, Nurun, John C. Morris, Joseph A. Aistrup, David P. Adams, Jonathan M. Fisk, and Adam P. Mayer

Environmental Policy and Governance 2025

Pioneering Policy: Exploring the Role of Multi-Agency Collaboration in California's Climate Investment Program 2015–2024

Arthur, Prince, David P. Adams, Jonathan M. Fisk, Matthew G. Jarvis, and Christopher A. Simon

Public Organization Review 2025

Administrative Resilience under Pressure: Environmental Governance and Institutional Adaptation

Adams, David P., Jonathan M. Fisk, and Adam F. Mayer

Administrative Theory & Praxis, 1–7 2025

Does Disclosure Matter? Coupling Information to Performance in Texas

McKnight, Steve, David P. Adams, and Jonathan M. Fisk

Policy Studies Journal, 1–12 2025

Plugged In? Assessing the Distribution of Orphaned Wells

Amin, Alisha, David P. Adams, Jonathan M. Fisk, and Adam F. Mayer

Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, March, 1–14 2025

Crude Contempt: Examining Local Pushback to Oil and Gas Development in California

Mahfuza, Zachary, Jonathan Fisk, and David P. Adams

Journal of Politics and Policy, 49(2), 479–501 2021

Affluence, Risk, and Community Engagement: The Case of Ascon and Huntington Beach

Adams, David P., Meriem Doucette, and Justin Tucker

California Journal of Politics and Policy, 11(3), 1–19 2019

Books

Navigating Water Quality Outcomes in American Watersheds

Adams, David P., Jonathan M. Fisk, and John Morris

Cambridge University Press March 2026 Book

Books Under Contract
Governing Fossil Fuel Legacies: Policy Risk and Resistance

Nahar, Nurun; David P. Adams; Jonathan M. Fisk; John C. Morris

Under contract with Routledge Press Book

Books Under Review
Big Challenges in Water Policy: The Changing Face of Federalism

Under review with University of Utah Press Under review