Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
2023 was a year of endings. I closed several projects and spent a lot of time, behind the scenes, laying the foundation for project I hope will have an impact in 2024. I don’t really think of myself as a science communications person anymore. We are activists, working to achieve specific science-informed policy outcomes. We … Read More “Taking Initiative: My 2023 year in environmental education, outreach, and activism” »
In January 2024, I presented the John Moore Lecture at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology conference. The aim of the Moore plenary is to offer the society a new perspective on science education, and my talk was entitled “You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Engagement Strategy: Lessons Learned from Teaching the Public About Shark … Read More “Lessons learned from teaching the public about shark science and conservation: Insights from my SICB Plenary” »
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that deep ocean exploration is an expensive endeavor. Vessels, instrumentation, deep-submergence vehicles, and analytical tools are costly to run and the specialized training needed to maintain that equipment is often a career in itself. Deep-sea research cruises are among the most logistically complex peacetime operations in human history. When access to … Read More “Deep Ocean Exploration needs to move beyond Imported Magic” »
This morning, the Norwegian parliament approved a bill that moves the country one step closer to commercial deep-sea mining in Norway’s waters. This bill opens up nearly 300,000 square kilometers for mining companies to to explore for lithium, scandium, cobalt, and other critical minerals. Importantly, this does not mean that Norway is about to strip … Read More “Norway moves one step closer to deep-sea mining” »
2023 was a pretty good year for woodworking. After the whirlwind furniture building of the last few years, I had a chance to sit down and work on some smaller projects to practice my skills and progress as a craftsman. January Though not exactly find woodworking, I spent January rebuilding the solar shed and adding … Read More “Cherry, Maple, and Walnut: My 2023 woodworking year in review.” »
Just how long should a woodworking joint last? Towards the middle of 2021, I started writing what could be generously described as a manifesto for environmentally conscientious woodworking. In Furniture as Revolution, I argue that: “In a present defined by levying a tax on future generations through manufactured frailty, making something designed to persist beyond … Read More “A good joint is built to last: archaeologists uncover evidence for the earliest structural use of wood. “ »
2023 felt like a year where I was just treading water. I barreled through it so fast that I barely registered everything that we accomplishes (and just how much is left to finish). This was a kludge year for me, with lots of small projects instead of one, big, overarching project. Onwards! Deep-sea Mining remains … Read More “Conservation, Technology, and the Future of the Seafloor: My 2023 science year in review.” »
Since the first Challenger Expedition, deep-sea explorers have recovered shark teeth from the bottom of the ocean. Sharks shed their teeth almost as much as Twitter sheds users after changing its name to the symbol synonymous with closing your browser. Shark teeth crop up in deepwater trawls, geologic samples, and even embedded in the core … Read More “Finding Megalodon at the bottom of the sea” »
Below is a transcript and slides from the above talk, delivered at the October 19, 2023 GOSH Community Call. Good afternoon, good evening, and good morning, and thank you for inviting me. Access to the tools of science is rarely equitable, and nowhere is this inequality of access more pronounced than in the ocean sciences, … Read More “The OpenCTD: Open-source Oceanography for Everyone” »
A new Broadway show based on the making of Jaws, co-written by and starring Robert Shaw’s son, is some of the most fun I’ve had at the theater in years. Wearing my finest elasmo-swag to the theater “Jaws” changed the world, with scientific, cultural, and political impacts that continue to this day. Jaws made the … Read More ““The Shark is Broken” is a Broadway-loving shark scientist’s dream come true” »
