Since Hugo Grotius' 1608 document "Mare Liberum", legal scholars have debated the rights and responsibilities of nations on the high seas. With the development of new technology and rise of the United Nations, new institutions, treaties, and legal principles have come to shape our use of the world's waters.  Duke University researchers, lead by Lisa Campbell, Steve Roady Daniel Dunn and Patrick Halpin, are asking questions about the legal, social, and political infrastructure that help us manage the world's largest commons.