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Author:   John Wiens
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
ISBN:  

9780231218047

ISBN 10:   0231218044
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   21 January 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: Charting Pathways 1. In the Beginning: Emerging of Interests 2. Molding of Interests 3. Starting on the Pathway to Becoming a Scientist 4. Defining a Pathway 5. Beginning an Academic Career 6. Expanding My View of Grassland Birds 7. Extending the Pathway: The International Biological Program 8. Scrambling for an Explanation: Climatic Instability and Ecological Crunches 9. Detouring to Another Pathway: Modeling Bird Bioenergetics 10. Moving from Grasslands to the Arid Shrubsteppe 11. Challenging the Paradigm 12. Changing Places: Pathways and Practicalities 13. Testing the Paradigm: Are Australian Bird Communities Different? 14. Shifting Directions in the Shrubsteppe 15. Finding Things Out: Field Experiments in the Shrubsteppe 16. Becoming a Landscape Ecologist 17. Dealing with Scale 18. Following the Landscape Ecology Pathway 19. Traveling Along Pathways with Students 20. Pulled onto a Seabird Pathway 21. Dealing with Advocacy: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 22. Shifting Pathways to Conservation 23. Bolstering Conservation Science in the Nature Conservancy 24. Doing Conservation Science 25. Writing into Retirement Conclusions: What Are the Lessons for Today’s Aspiring Ecologists? Appendix: Scientific Names of Species Mentioned in Text Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

This book explores what it means to be an ecologist, showing that it is a lifelong venture that can entail many pathways. Providing examples from his own journey, Wiens conveys deep knowledge about how an ecologist’s career can change over time, just as the field of ecology has developed over the years. -- Virginia H. Dale, research professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and corporate fellow emeritus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory In Becoming an Ecologist, Wiens offers insightful reflections on why he did, or did not, take certain pathways along his distinguished scientific career. His perspectives on past debates and current issues in ecology, as well as his roles in shaping the trajectories of several disciplines, are of special significance. Becoming an Ecologist is informative, important, interesting, and vivid. The suggestions and advice Wiens provides throughout the book will be helpful to the next generations of scientists in general and ecologists in particular. -- Jianguo “Jack” Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, University Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University Part practical guide to the discipline, but also an ode to the wonder and beauty of the natural world and the study of it. * KLCC, NPR for Oregonians *

This book explores what it means to be an ecologist, showing that it is a lifelong venture that can entail many pathways. Providing examples from his own journey, Wiens conveys deep knowledge about how an ecologist’s career can change over time, just as the field of ecology has developed over the years. -- Virginia H. Dale, research professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and corporate fellow emeritus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory In Becoming an Ecologist, Wiens offers insightful reflections on why he did, or did not, take certain pathways along his distinguished scientific career. His perspectives on past debates and current issues in ecology, as well as his roles in shaping the trajectories of several disciplines, are of special significance. Becoming an Ecologist is informative, important, interesting, and vivid. The suggestions and advice Wiens provides throughout the book will be helpful to the next generations of scientists in general and ecologists in particular. -- Jianguo “Jack” Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, University Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University

This book explores what it means to be an ecologist, showing that it is a lifelong venture that can entail many pathways. Providing examples from his own journey, Wiens conveys deep knowledge about how an ecologist’s career can change over time, just as the field of ecology has developed over the years. -- Virginia H. Dale, research professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, and corporate fellow emeritus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory In Becoming an Ecologist, Wiens offers insightful reflections on why he did, or did not, take certain pathways along his distinguished scientific career. His perspectives on past debates and current issues in ecology, as well as his roles in shaping the trajectories of several disciplines, are of special significance. Becoming an Ecologist is informative, important, interesting, and vivid. The suggestions and advice Wiens provides throughout the book will be helpful to the next generations of scientists in general and ecologists in particular. -- Jianguo “Jack” Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, University Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University

Author Information

John A. Wiens turned a childhood interest in birds into a career in ecology. He served on the faculties of Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico, and Colorado State University, where he is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He then worked for the Nature Conservancy as chief scientist. His work emphasizes the ecology of birds, landscape ecology, and conservation.

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