The leading textbook in Marine Conservation Biology (Norse and Crowder) is 20 years old. It’s great and it shaped the field for a generation, but a lot has happened since it came out. There are new conservation threats, new policy tools, and new research methods to study them. And in that time, we’ve radically changed how we approach a lot of these questions.
It’s time for something new, so we’re making a new textbook, and we need your help.
Who are we?
Longtime readers know that I am a Ph.D. conservation scientist and author, and that I teach ocean conservation policy at Georgetown. I’m collaborating with longtime colleague Dr. Catherine Macdonald, a Ph.D. interdisciplinary marine scientist who teaches marine conservation biology at the University of Miami. Together we are the lead authors of the new book.
We also have assembled a team of subject matter experts including deep-sea ecologist Dr. Diva Amon, and marine mammal biologist Dr. Asha de Vos. We will likely be seeking additional subject matter experts- stay tuned!
The book will be published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
What is our goal for the book?
Our goal is that this book will be rigorous enough to be used as a textbook for an undergraduate or graduate level course, but accessible enough for the interested public or for a frontline practitioner without an advanced degree.
The book will focus on conservation threats as well as their solutions (including policy/regulation/law solutions and voluntary behavior change solutions.) It will focus on success stories as case studies. And it will focus on the science showing how we know. It will be interdisciplinary, addressing the role of humans in creating and solving conservation problems, including the need to approach these problems with an understanding of the need for environmental justice.
It will contain practical, evidence-based advice for all levels of decision-making, from individuals to community organizations to national governments.
It will contain diverse perspectives, interviews, and case studies from experts and key stakeholders all over the world.
And it will contain an extensive focus on careers and professional development, including key skills and how to learn them, for aspiring ocean conservation professionals.
What do we need from you?
If you teach ocean conservation science and/or policy, we’d love to hear about resources or exercises that you use for your class that you would recommend to other teachers. And we’d love to hear about any features of our book that would make it more useful for your class and your students, or more likely that you’d use it for your course.
If you are an ocean conservation professional, we’d love to get suggestions from you on topics or perspectives to include, on case studies to feature, on things you wish early-career professionals learned in school, and more.
And if you’re interested in potentially contributing as a subject matter expert, let us know on what topic and in what way.
How can you get in touch with us?
You can provide feedback using this Google Form, you can email me directly at WhySharksMatter at Gmail, or you can join a session of an upcoming Zoom LIstening Tour where we’ll talk about this together.
Dates/times where we are hosting Zoom sessions include (all times are US east coast time, all sessions are one hour):
Tuesday, February 25th at 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, February 27th at 4:00 p.m.
Monday, March 17 at 9:00 a.m.
Friday, March 21 at 4:00 p.m.
Sign up here. And if you’d like to share information but can’t make one of these Zoom talks, please share it via this form, or email me.