My story
A bit about me
The very short version:
This blurb is more
about my motivations than the details of my work. If you’re
interested in my scientific output, check my Google Scholarand ResearchGate
pages. If you’re interested in my story, listen
to the podcast I did about some of the experiences that have
shaped my life. It’s not what you'd think.
TL;DR
To quote Douglas
Adams, from The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul:
I may not have gone
where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to
be.*
The slightly longer
version:
I’m a conservation
biologist. I’ve spent my working life studying marine wildlife –
dolphins, whales, seals and dugongs. I use the scientific tools
gifted us by our Enlightenment forebears to describe, and understand,
how we impact our mammalian relatives in the ocean. And, having
identified problems, I’ve tried to work with others to find solutions. Well, that’s the idea anyway. As my most
recent escapades have been dealing with the plight of North Atlantic
right whales, I’m not so sure about the last bit about solutions.
The other side to my
story is that of dealing with unanticipated disasters that have come
my way over the years. I never followed the classical route in the
academy – a University job, with a lab of students and postdocs
beavering away. I was badly beaten while a postdoc, and the head
injury I sustained from that ruined any possible opportunity I
had of following the academic path. Again, if you want to know more
about how that beating came about (spoiler alert – it was
deliberate) listen
to my
podcast. And after my wife came very close to death in childbirth, my
life took yet another turn, as did my perspective of what’s
important.
A thread through
all of this story was my unintentional dealings with the world of
security services. Almost none of that was my plan - apart from
outing a GRU operation I noticed while working in the European
Arctic. The Norwegians, in their desire to prove that whales eat all
the fish, were supporting it. (Again, some details are in my
podcast). What I realized from that experience was that if you
see something, don’t say anything. I’m not sure the Secret
Squirrels know what doing the right thing is, and for sure don’t
know how to deal with honest people who try to help.
Anyway, this website
is me trying to provide a bit of information about myself to the
world. And a repository of random stuff that I can make available in
this format.