Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
The Beneath the Waves Film Festival is now accepting submissions for the 2012 meeting! This festival, now in it’s third year, is associated with the Benthic Ecology conference. It is one of the few film festivals in the world that brings the scientific and filmmaking communities directly together. This year, the festival will be in Norfolk, Virginia … Read More “Beneath the Waves Film Festival: Now accepting submissions!” »
The influence that Star Trek has had on our society, from cell phones to the name of the first space shuttle orbiter to providing hope of a better future to victims of ethnic cleansing, has been well documented. However, what does Star Trek have to do with saving the oceans? As it turns out, quite a lot, and I’m not just talking about the plot of Star Trek IV (in which Kirk and company have to go back in time to rescue a whale whose species was driven extinct by human exploitation).
Star Trek is fundamentally about curiosity, exploration, and respect for all forms of life. This can be found from the Enterprise’s stated mission (“to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before*) to the Vulcan code of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations), and you’d be hard-pressed to find a popular television series that portrays scientists better. The ideals of Star Trek have quite a bit to do with saving the oceans, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
As you read this, I’ll be on a plane over the Pacific Ocean. I’m on my way to Auckland, New Zealand for the 25th annual International Congress for Conservation Biology! This meeting, organized by the Society for Conservation Biology, brings together conservation scientists from around the world. I will be live-Tweeting talks and plenary speeches … Read More “WhySharksMatter is headed to New Zealand for the International Congress for Conservation Biology” »
Thank you all for your support in the 2011 blogging scholarship! It really means a lot that so many of you voted for me and encouraged your friends and followers to do the same. All told, over two hundred of my Twitter followers Tweeted or re-Tweeted messages about the contest, many of them every day … Read More “Thanks for your support in the 2011 blogging scholarship!” »
Today is the last day to vote for the winner of the 2011 blogging scholarship, which provides $10,000 towards research and education expenses to the winner. The final decision comes down to votes, and I need your help for the last push! Please vote for me (my real name, as it’s entered on the voting … Read More “It’s the last day to vote for me to win $10,000 for shark conservation research!” »
Why are we still killing Bluefin Tuna? This question has resonated through the ocean blogosphere recently, as various experts weigh the issues surrounding overfishing and wonder why, when we know how limited the Bluefin Tuna populations are, and how precipitously they’ve declined in the last decade, do they demand record-breaking prices able to support an industry that must range further afield to chase that last, lonely fish? Other conservation writers discuss the recent extinction of not one, but two, rhinoceros species and ponder the fate of large terrestrial mammals. Knowing how rare these rhinoceroses were, why did they continue to be poached? Where does this demand come from?
Read More “Bluefin Tuna, Big Game Hunters, and the Conservation Vortex” »
There are still a few days left to vote for me to win the 2011 blogging scholarship, which provides $10,000 towards research and education expenses to the winner! If I win, some of the money will be used to support shark conservation research at my lab. It will help support our citizen science program, which … Read More “There’s still time to vote for me to win $10,000 for shark conservation research!” »
…here’s David bowling. Go! Vote! Shiffman! Shiffman! Shiffman!
In a world where words like sustainability are used in many contexts with widely varying meanings, we forget that the environmental community was once very choosy in its wording. Terms have specific meanings such that a single word can communicate a philosophy and accompanying ethics. Conservation and preservation are two such terms. The first denotes an effort to sustain a space or resource for perpetual use. Preservation denotes a fortress-like approach to nature, walling off human influence in order to maintain pristine “wilderness”. The terms are linked to big figures in American history, each of whom established a land ethic according to their philosophy now codified in US law.
Read More “Wording Matters: Conservation vs. Preservation” »
We’ve often heard that “the solution to pollution is dilution”, but according to one theory, the best way to reduce pollution in the first place may be to encourage economic growth. This is best modeled by a simple theoretical figure called a “Kuznets Curve”. According to the Kuznets curve, extremely poor nations pollute relatively little, partially because they lack the technology and resources for large-scale industry. Moderately wealthy nations have the technology for large-scale industry, but not the resources for pollution-reduction measures. The wealthiest nations are able to create large-scale industry and can also afford to purchase pollution reduction technology for their industries (or alternative industries entirely).
Read More “Do richer nations pollute less? An evaluation of the Kuznets curve” »
