Exploration, Featured, Science
Last Friday, I was invited by Congressman Case to brief congressional staffers on the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining alongside former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Ocean, Fisheries and Polar Affairs, Dr. Mahlet Mesfin, and native Hawaiian Elder, Solomon Pili Kahoʻohalahala. It was a complex and wide ranging discussion across a range of scientific, policy, and … Read More “9 Quick Questions About Deep-Sea Mining from My Congressional Briefing” »
Featured, Science
The Natural History Society of Maryland is redoing their public exhibit halls, including a new exhibit on shark science and conservation. I’m helping them to design it, we’re fundraising, and we can use your help! The centerpiece of the exhibit is a shark diving cage with a fascinating history: It was used during the filming … Read More “Help support a new shark science and conservation exhibit in Maryland!” »
Academic life, Exploration, Science
The world of scientific writing and pubilshing is complex and confusing, and it can be hard for early career scientists to master. But don’t worry! I am an experienced and award-winning scientific writer, reviewer, editor, and writing instructor, and I’m here to help! I am offering a free online crash course in scientific writing and … Read More “I’m offering a free online crash course in scientific writing and publishing. Here’s how to join!” »
Blogging, Education, Featured, Science
My colleague Dr. Julia Wester and I have a new paper out in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology reporting on the results of a survey distributed to over 800 scientists, science educators, and science communicators. I presented these results at the 2025 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Our study confirms a trend that’s … Read More ““Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky:” Our new survey shows that scientists no longer find Twitter professionally useful or pleasant” »
Blogging
I will be attending two days of the 2025 Ecological Society of America conference, and I’d love to meet you (or catch up) while I’m there! But because I’m not attending the whole meeting, and because ESA is so big that you can’t really hope to randomly run into someone there, I’m writing up where … Read More “I’m presenting at the 2025 Ecological Society of America Conference! Come say hello.” »
Policy
“The health of the ocean is not beholden to the burn rate of private companies.” In May, right after the congressional hearing, I recorded an episode of the Marine Conservation Happy Hour talking about deep-sea mining, the current push from within the United States, and what that might mean for the International Seabed Authority. Earlier … Read More “Chatting about deep-sea mining with the Marine Conservation Happy Hour and Outside/In” »
Conservation, Exploration, Featured, Policy, Science
Nodules, a new documentary by Clare Fieseler and Jason Jaacks takes a deep dive into polymetallic nodule mining and two recent discoveries that help reshape our understanding of the seafloor. Fieseler explores the discovery of dark oxygen production in nodule fields and the rediscovery of the world’s first deep-sea mining test site on the Blake … Read More “Nodules, Lost Mines, and Dark Oxygen: A new documentary on deep-sea mining asks important questions about the future of the industry.” »
Uncategorized
Tons of Shark Week shows are full of obvious pseudoscientific nonsense, and yet feature real scientists. Why would these people agree to do that? In my capacity as “Shark Week’s Biggeset Critic,” I’m asked this question a lot, and while I can’t speak for others and their decision-making processes, based on what colleagues have told … Read More “Why would a serious scientist agree to participate in a nonsense Shark Week show?” »
Blogging, Featured
Following the success of “Why Sharks Matter,” lots of colleagues have asked me if I think they should write a popular science book, or how to approach it. I’ve shared various of this advice in various social media posts over the years, but several people asked me to write it up as a blog post … Read More “Considering writing a popular science book? Here’s my advice” »
Blogging
Netflix has a new (sarcastic air quotes) “documentary” out about Ocean Ramsey, who longtime readers and followers know is a serial wildlife harasser who also coordinates massive online harassment campaigns against scientists and conservationists who criticize her. In 15 years on social media, I’ve never gotten more (or nastier) harassment then when I criticized her … Read More “What Ocean Ramsey does is not shark science or conservation: some brief thoughts on “the Shark Whisperer” documentary” »