Dr. KuoRay Mao is Associate Professor of Sociology at Colorado State University. As a green criminologist specializing in environmental governance and natural resource management in an illiberal context, he studies the intricate relationship between development, ecological crises, and the global environmental regulatory framework. Recent projects explore how neoliberal governance strategies—like payment for ecosystem services and green/nature-based finance—have evolved into mechanisms of green dispossession and perpetuated social and environmental injustices in regions like China, East Asia, and Latin America. Furthermore, he investigates how environmental degradation and green victimization lead to the emergence of authoritarian environmentalism throughout the Global South. He was awarded the 2015 Community Action Research Initiative Award from the American Sociological Association, the 2017 Outstanding Emerging Scholar Award from the Western Social Sciences Association, the 2019 Best Journal Article Award from the American Society of Criminology Division on Critical Criminology and Social Justice, the 2020 Best Teacher Award from the CSU Alumni Association, the 2021 American Regions Scholar Grant from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, and the 2025 Rosa del Olmo Prize. He has published in journals such as the Journal of Agrarian Change, Society & Natural Resources, Critical Criminology, Journal of Contemporary China, Asian Politics & Policy, the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, and the International Journal for Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy.