Stories from the field, tips for aspiring researchers, analyses of pressing conservation issues, and *opinions* (of which I have many) about conservation as a field and academia as a sector, as well as updates from my work and cool outputs from colleague-friends.
Design Thinking & Conservation
With thoughtful and responsible use, Design Thinking can substantially contribute to more effective, equitable, and ethical conservation practices.
Developing an Innovative Conservation Training Program
At the Myanmar Coastal Conservation Lab (MCCL) at Point B Design + Training, we’ve developed a thoughtful, remarkably effective training program to…
Environmentalism in a Pandemic: The importance of critical, empathetic, and future-driven thinking
Written in April – some thoughts and quick information search on what the pandemic actually means for the environment, beyond thoughtless “nature…
What dwells in these muddy waters: The quest for dolphins and porpoises in the Gulf of Mottama, Myanmar
About our journey – from an unexpected revelation in India, to poking around fishing villages, to finally seeing the animals with our…
A tangled net: Bycatch, dolphin conservation, and human well-being
Bycatch is a serious threat to marine megafauna around the world; reducing it requires changes in how people fish, posing a highly challenging situation where conservation might threaten human well-being.
Cute, Generally Irritating, and Endangered: Lessons from studying Irrawaddy dolphins & their conservation systems
We love to gripe about these dolphins, but we also just love them. My views of conservation have been heavily influenced by…
Research Highlight: Misguided attempts to revive Vaquita Conservation
You may have heard about the vaquita, a hapless little porpoise species in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico. It’s been one…
Some tips for aspiring conservation researchers
I wrote this back in 2016 or so, but most of it should still hold true! I often receive emails from aspiring…
In Deep Sea News: Beyond drug lords and conservationists…
…who is missing in the coverage of the vaquita’s demise? Vaquita conservation has been a hot topic (well, as far as endangered…
Read all about it: Multi-methods approach for estimating Irrawaddy dolphin bycatch
Officially out in Marine Mammal Science this month – another chapter from the ol’ disseration – Multi-methods approach to characterizing the magnitude, impact,…
On “hopelessness”, ignorant bliss, and pragmatism
Main point: One of the most intensely frustrating attributes of the general conservation community is a fear of realism – optimism is…
Read all about it: Governance Potential for Marine Mammal Bycatch Mitigation
Presenting my first first-author paper, from my dissertation! This paper is part of a special issue in Applied Geography on Cultural Geography…
Ta-Daaaa: Defense Presentation Video!
Way back in August (actually, exactly 5 months ago), I gave the most important presentation of my life thus far: my dissertation…
Climate Change & Small-scale Fisheries
Originally posted on SAFRN Blog:
One of the great tragedies of climate change is that it will severely impact those who had…
Let’s move this science-policy-communication conversation forward
If you want to see me struggle to repress an eye-roll of great magnitude, just say, “Well, what is the role of…
Overthinking Conservation
“You’re perfect for this fellowship, but there’s no ‘Whitty et al.’ yet… Your problem is, you overthink things. You want things to be…
Listen
Originally posted on SAFRN Blog:
Yesterday, I came across this story by Malcolm Gladwell on BBC News about how the Vietnam War…
