Earlier this year, Andrew, Amy and I wrote a series of posts called “get to know your fry-entist” which expressed our views on science and advocacy. I was happy to see that last week’s Ecological Society of America meeting had an entire symposium dedicated to this important topic. It was entitled “above the din but … Read More “WhySharksMatter interviews Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Should scientists be advocates?” »
The problem
Sharks consistently rank near the top of lists of American’s greatest fears. In reality, they have much more to fear from us than we do from them. Because of our actions, many species of sharks are on the verge of extinction. A recent International Union for the Conservation of Nature Shark Specialist Group report shows that fully 1/3 of open-ocean species of sharks are in danger of extinction in the next few decades. Many shark species have had population declines of over 90% in the last few decades.

Read More “Shark Conservation: The problem, the goal, and how to get there” »
Handy Stand complete, Charlie can now comfortably read Steve Gould’s Magnum Opus – The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.
Charlie pokes his head through the Handy Stand Standy Hand.
Charlie stains the Handy Stand. Almost ready.
Charlie sizes up the handy holes in the Handy Stand, nice and smooth.
Charlie files down the finger holes.
I am a big fan of Jeffery Deaver’s bestselling “Lincoln Rhyme” series of mystery novels. However, I was disappointed by the lack of basic fact-checking in one part of his latest, “The Burning Wire“. In this book, the bad guy is sabotaging the electricity grid of New York city.





