Kenta Matsumoto is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM), Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland. His PhD project is about understanding the policymaking processes of deep-sea mining (DSM) governance structures, particularly the relationship between domestic regulatory developments and developments around DSM governance under the Law of the Sea Convention. As a Japan native, he focuses on Japan’s DSM governance structure, documenting the policy development process through ethnographic research under the supervision of Associate Professor Nicholas Bainton and Dr Vigya Sharma.
Kenta is a social scientist with research interests in various topics around environmental management. Keywords for his research area includes Anthropocene debate, circular economy, just energy transitions, multispecies justice, and planetary politics. He holds a Master of Environmental Management from The University of Queensland. Prior to moving to Brisbane, Australia, he completed his undergraduate degree majoring in International Relations at Soka University in Tokyo, Japan.