Matthew Wilburn King

Biography

Matthew W. King (born 7 October 1974) is an American conflict analyst, environmentalist, social entrepreneur, and change agent. He is currently the C.E.O. of UPsidEo LLC. Born and raised in Tulsa as Stephen Matthew Wilburn, he grew up on the plains of Oklahoma, Green Country. His name was legally changed in Boulder County, Colorado in August 2009. The name change led to the addition of his mother's maiden name, King, after his grandmother Norma Jean King. His interest in environmental issues was encouraged while he was in high school, influencing him to create the EARTH Club with fellow students in 1991 Tulsa Memorial High School.

King later attended the University of Tulsa, a small liberal arts college in Oklahoma. His interest in the political aspects of environmental degradation, led him to major in political science and legal studies. By his third year, at the age of 20, he left Oklahoma leading to his growth as a scholar and a practitioner in the international arena. His initial experience abroad led him to further study international law and political theory in the tradition of Classical Liberalism in the Old College, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Upon graduation from TU, he abandoned the idea of attending law school and opted to travel and volunteer throughout Europe. His choice led him to pursue a Master of Philosophy in Conflict Studies at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland. The program of study leading to the Master’s degree took an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the issues associated with the politics of development, while focusing on a wide range of problems related to conflict and its resolution. His interest turned toward international environmental conflicts, which he considered to be a philosophical problem, leading him to write a Master's thesis that explored both anthropocentrism, anthropogenic causality, and ecocentrism.

In 1999, upon completion of his Master's degree, King was awarded a US Presidential Management Fellowship under the Clinton Administration, serving until 2001. He began serving the federal government as a Training Specialist with US Department of Interior at the Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center located in Shepherdstown, WV. After completion of his Fellowship, he spent six years serving the US Department of Commerce as the Senior Program Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, and as the Team Leader for International Partnerships and Funding Opportunities. His work within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of International Activities, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research occurred between 2001 and 2007.
King is known for his work at the University of Cambridge, England where he completed a Ph.D. in Human/Political Geography, while working for the US government. While at Cambridge, Pembroke College, he developed an innovative approach to environmental conflict analysis, as a member of the Political Ecology of Development Research Group . King's approach was applied toward an historical analysis of conflict in the Gulf of Fonseca, southern Honduras. Upon leaving Washington D.C. in 2008, he relocated to Boulder, Colorado and began working more extensively with a group of social entrepreneurs; creating Miramar Consulting, which evolved into SMW Global, and is now known as UPsidEo, LLC. His writings, lectures, presentations, and avant-garde approach to life have been recognized in a number of fora. He is a PG Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Cambridge Philosophical Society .

In 2009, King was selected to become a member of the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution's Roster of ECR Practitioners, established by the Morris K. Udall Foundation. He has lived in multiple countries, worked in over a half dozen, completed expeditions to over 25 countries, and has studied in England, Ireland, Scotland and the United States. He has extensive international experience and has conducted research and work in the Latin American and Caribbean regions over the last decade. His attention is now directed toward global commodities and environmental conflicts in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically those surrounding forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and mining activities that have impacts on land and marine-based resources

Academic Teaching

University of Colorado, Boulder, Department of Geography
Global Commodities - Sustainable Development and Conflict, Spring 2010

George Washington University, Washington DC, Department of Geography
Environmental Quality and Management in the Developing World, Spring 2008

University of Cambridge, England, Department of Geography
Teaching Assistant/Supervisor Easter and Michelmas Term 2006
• State and Society: Latin America and South Asia
• Third World Development
• Society, Environment, and Development
• Graduate Instructor, Michelmas Term 2006: Documents and Discourse Analysis: Joint Schools Postgraduate Course in Social Science Research Methods

Shepherd University, Institute for Environmental Studies, Shepherdstown, WV
Environmental Ethics/Philosophy, Spring 2002

University of Zamorano, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Honduras
Teacher/Trainer: Development, Socioeconomics, and Environment Career, 2005
Socio-Economic Analysis of Marine and Coastal Resource Use, southern Honduras

Select Works and Publications

Wilburn, Matthew et al.; Sea Grant in Latin America: Adapting the U.S. Sea Grant Model of Linked Applied
Research, Extension, and Education to a Latin American Context - is there a fit? Marine Policy Journal, May 2007,
Volume 31 (3) Elsevier Publishing.

King, Matthew W.; Political Ecology of Mangroves in Southern Honduras: Emergence and
Evolution of Environmental Conflict in the Gulf of Fonseca 1973 - 2006. Saarbrücken, Germany, VDM
Verlag, 2009. 412.

Wilburn, Matthew (2003). Watershed Management. Civil-Security Forces Environmental Cooperation in
Central America and the Caribbean Conference Report; pp. 20-23, Belize City, Belize, Center for Strategic
Leadership, United States Army War College, Carlyle, Pennsylvania.

Wilburn, Matthew; Tobey, J; Hepp, J.; Olsen, S.B.; Costa-Pierce, B.; “Sea Grant International: Final Report
to the Department of State, Oceans Environmental and International Scientific Affairs Initiative Grant IAA#S-OES-03-
IAA-001”. United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Oceanic & Atmospheric Research, Office of International Activities in Collaboration with the University
of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center. July 2004.

Wilburn, Matthew; Tobey, J; Hepp, J.; Olsen, S.B.; Costa-Pierce, B.; “A Network of Centers for the
Governance of Coastal Ecosystems: The Establishment of Long-Term University-Based Marine and Coastal Resource
Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean”. Government White Paper: United States Department of
Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic & Atmospheric Research, Office
of International Activities in Collaboration with the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center.
March 2004.

Wilburn, Matthew; Tobey, J; Hepp, J.; Olsen, S.B.; Costa-Pierce, B.; “An Assessment of the Sea Grant
Program Model of Extension, Education, and Applied Research in the Marine and Coastal Environment, A Revision of
International Experience and Opportunities”: Background Paper #1 Government White Paper: United States
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic & Atmospheric
Research, Office of International Activities in Collaboration with the University of Rhode Island Coastal
Resources Center. March 2004.

Wilburn, Matthew; Tobey, J; Hepp, J.; Olsen, S.B.; Costa-Pierce, B.; “Integrating Education, Applied
Research, and Extension; A Justification for Pilot Projects in the Gulf of Fonseca and Coastal Ecuador”: Background
Paper #2 Government White Paper: United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic & Atmospheric Research, Office of International Activities in
Collaboration with the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center. March 2004.

Personal Writings and the Arts
King is also the author of fables, poems, and political musings available through Berkeley Press Selected Works King also has an interest in the arts; painting, drawing, film, photography, and theatre. He has devoted energy to the arts, entertainment, lectures, philanthropy, theatre, and the natural environment. He has also produced art in the following mediums: Acrylic, Ceramic Tile Mosaics, Sculpture on Canvas, Prismacolor, and Graphite Pencil.

In 2009, King directed his first short film titled, "Through the Eyes of Hope", produced by Old Style Films in Washington D.C. 2009. The film used the backdrop of a regimented and tightly controlled patriarchal dystopia to explore the extremes of masculine and feminine gender roles. A mysterious woman with amnesia has an awakening, and enlivening affect on the stiff, brainwashed populace. An agent of the Bureau of Morality and Righteousness attempts to track her down and contain her before she can unleash her powers.
His previous foray into film was as a creative consultant for "$927", Directed by Andrew Satter, in which he also performed a minor role. King more recently performed a minor role in a comedy series called Downstage Confessions - a series about actors in Washington D.C., Directed by notable playwright and actor Peter Stray. King has also performed roles in Lady Windermere's Fan, written by Oscar Wilde, and in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Roman Repertory, where he performed as a part of the Ensemble in the production of Julius Caesar, Directed by David Muse.

Government Presentations and Lectures

• Institution Building for Environmental Security, Environmental Security Dialogues by invitation from the United
States Southern Command and the United States Army War College, July 23, 2008 Miami, Florida
• Environmental Basis of Political Stability in the Gulf of Fonseca
Environmental Security Conference by invitation from the United States Southern Command and the United States Army War College in cooperation with
the Central American Commission for Environment and Development, Belize City, Belize July, 2003.
• Sea Grant International: Gulf of Fonseca and Coastal Ecuador, National Sea Grant College Program: Sea Grant
Week, May 2003, Galveston, TX.
• US Delegate, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Central American System for Regional Integration-Central American Commission for Environment and
Development (SICA-CCAD), Regional Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development, Belize
City, Belize; March 2002.

Academic Presentations and Lectures

• Developing Corporate Best Practices for Social and Environmental Responsibility by invitation from the Leeds School
of Business (MBA Program), Department of Management, Topics in Sustainable Development, University
of Colorado, Boulder, March 31, 2009.
• Discourses of Sustainable Development by invitation from the program: Developing Areas Research and
Teaching (DART), University of Colorado, Boulder, November 7, 2008.
• Analyzing Environmental Conflicts by invitation from the University of Denver, Department of Geography
Colloquium for Faculty, Graduate and Undergraduates, October 23, 2008 Denver, Colorado
• Who Ate the Tropical Forests: the “yumminess” of discontent, Presentation by Invitation from the Center for the
Study of Globalization, The George Washington University, Globalization Week Guest Lecturer, March
25, 2008 Washington DC
• Contested Neoliberal Economic Futures: southern Honduras 1973 - 2006, Presentation by Invitation from The
George Washington University, Department of Geography, November 28, 2007 Washington DC
• The Blue Revolution 1970 - Present, Presentation by Invitation from the University of Cambridge, Ivory
Tower Society, November 13, 2006 Cambridge, England
• Systems Thinking and Ecological Literacy, Guest Lecturer by invitation from Shepherd University’s Institute for
Environmental Studies (Special Topics: Communication Strategies for Environmental Studies) February
29, 2000 Shepherdstown, WV

Non-Profit Presentations and Lectures

• Art and the Natural World - Exploring Andy Goldsworthy, Guest Lecture by Invitation from the Board of
Directors, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) Board Lecture Series, June 21, 2008
• Changing the Narrative: Environmental Ethics in Contemporary Society, Guest Speaker and Workshop Coordinator
and Instructor by Invitation from the Washington Ethical Society, March 28, 2004, Washington DC, USA.

Media Invitations

The Price of Prawns, Joint Presentation and showing of the documentary with BBC Senior Producer for the Natural History Unit, Jeremy Bristow, by Invitation from the University of Cambridge, Ivory Tower Society, February 8, 2007 Pembroke College’s Old Library, Cambridge, England

ABC Affiliate 97.7 Radio Program Interview on Carlyle This Week: Good Morning Guatemala, Public Diplomacy invitation from the United States Embassy Guatemala and the United States Agency for International Development, “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sea Grant International Efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean,” August 11, 2006, Guatemala City, Guatemala.

University of Tulsa Television (TUTV): Broadcast Interview with Paulo - November 1997

KOTV Channel 6 Television Interview on Six in the Morning - Interview with Anchor Rick Wells,
November 1994.

Honors and Awards

US Government Awards
• United States Presidential Management Fellow, Washington, DC, 1999 - 2001
• United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Award, 2000
• United States Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award Recipient, 2003
• United States Department of Commerce Leadership Award: Leading NOAA Research efforts in the
development and implementation of the Regional Sea Grant Program in Latin America, 2006

Scholarships
Cambridge Philosophical Society, Research Studentship, University of Cambridge 2006 - 2007
Lundgren Research Award, Board of Graduate Studies, University of Cambridge, 2006
Worts Bartle Frere Travel Scholarship, University of Cambridge, 2006
Searl Fund, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, 2006
Franklin and Marshall Trust Fund, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, 2005
Cambridge Philosophical Society, University of Cambridge, 2004 and 2006
Society for Latin American Studies, UK, 2004
The Grovesnor-Shilling Bursary in Land Economy, University of Cambridge, 2004
Cambridge European Trust, University of Cambridge, 2004
Philip Lake II Fund, University of Cambridge, Department of Geography, 2004
William Vaughn Lewis Fund, University of Cambridge, Department of Geography, 2004
University of Tulsa Scholarship & Leadership Award, Tulsa, OK, 1997
Oxley Foundation Scholarship, Senior Year, University of Tulsa, OK 1997 - 1998

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