Hi Reddit!
I have a PhD in Ecology from Rutgers University and spent ten years studying seabird foraging at sea and nesting success on land. Seeing widespread declines of ocean wildlife convinced me to work on ocean conservation and fisheries reform, which I did for more than a decade.
Since I was a little boy I’ve been fascinated by what animals do and why. Like many of us, I have wondered what thoughts and emotions motivate animals to do the things we see them do. In my seventh book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, I went to the heart of this by asking animals the question that for a scientist was forbidden fruit: Who are you?
In the book we go to Kenya to observe elephants whose individual families have been followed for forty years, then to Yellowstone National Park where we watch wolves cope with the consequences of their own personal tragedy, then to the Pacific Northwest and into the mind-bending society of killer whales to whom family means everything. Along the way we dive deep into questions and answers about consciousness, emotion, intelligence, awareness, grief, and other topics. We see how science has both led and misled our understanding of the inner lives of animals, and how evolution, neurobiology, and behavior show emphatically that under the skin we are all kin.
With Beyond Words newly out in paperback, it’s the perfect time to hold an AMA session on animal minds, behavior, and life. Also, please feel free to ask about some of my other work: ocean conservation, fisheries, plastics, the Deepwater Horizon blowout, and more. Check out my website for some advance inspiration. With that, I'll be back at 1 pm ET and invite you to ask me anything!
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