Conservation Activism: A Proper Role for Academics?

Summary

This essay was stimulated by input from conference attendees who indicated that the conservation activist role is unusual, difficult, and inadvisable for academic ecologists, especially those who are just entering their careers. As an academic ecologist who actively advises on conservation issues at many levels, I hope to reassure young and established ecologists alike that it is easy, appropriate, and desirable to become involved in conservation efforts. Here, I define conservation activism as the direct transfer of ecological information to assist in developing conservation policy and legislation, designing nature reserves, providing testimony concerning land management, writing for the public, or educating the public, including elementary and high schools. Academics may also have opinions based on attitudes and beliefs that are unrelated to science; these are not included in the present discussion.