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Academic News

  • Dr Chris Parsons has published two articles on whalewatching in the journal Tourism in Marine Environments. The first article (with Claire Howard, Public awareness of whale-watching opportunities in Scotland. Tourism in Marine Environments 2: 103-109) describes the potential domestic whalewatching market in Scotland and determines there is great potential for growth in this already lucrative wildlife tourism activity. The second article, written with GMU graduate student Jill Lewandowski and Michael Luck, is a review of recent studies completed in the field of whalewatching research and research trends in this area (Recent advances in whalewatching research: 2004-2005. Tourism in Marine Environments 2: 119-132)

  • Dr Chris Parsons has published a critique of the Japanese government's scientific whaling program. This programs results in harvests of hundreds of whales every year despite the current moratorium on whaling. The whalemeat gathered from this program of 'reaserch' is then sold in markets for human consumption. Dr Parsons and his co-authors points out that Japanese scientists have found that a third of harvested whales to have evidence of the pathogen Brucella (which can cause serious disease and even death) and scientists have found whalemeat has been found to be contaminated with high levels of organochlorine and heavy metal contaminants. What is more worrying is that despite unhealthy levels pathogen and pollutant contamination the Japanese government is promoting whale meat consumption, particularly in young children via a school meals program (see Parsons, E.C.M., Rose, N.A., Bass, C., Perry, C. and Simmonds, M.P. 2006. "It's not just poor science: Japan's 'scientific' whaling may be a human health risk too." Marine Pollution Bulletin 52: 1118-1120).

  • In Cows, Kin and Globalization: An Ethnography of Sustainability, Susan Crate presents the first cultural ecological study of a Siberian people: the Viliui Sakha, contemporary horse and cattle agropastoralists in northeastern Siberia. The author links the local and global economic forces, and provides an intimate view of how a seemingly remote and isolated community is directly affected by the forces of modernization and globalization. She details the severe environmental and historical factors that continue to challenge their survival, and shows how the multi-million dollar diamond industry, in part run by ethnic Sakha, raises issues of ethnic solidarity and indigenous rights as well as environmental impact. Her new book addresses key topics of interest to both economic and environmental anthropology, and to practitioners interested in sustainable rural development, globalization, indigenous rights in Eurasia, and post-Soviet and environmental issues. The book jacket may be viewed here.

  • Blackwell has published a new book by Associate Professor, Larry Rockwood, entitled, An Introduction to Population Ecology.  For more details, click here.

  • Environmental Science & Policy is pleased to announce that we are now part of the new College of Science at George Mason University. For information on the college go to http://cos.gmu.edu/.

  • All new graduate students should contact Annaliesa Lundblad to be added to the graduate student listserve in order to receive important announcments.

Thesis Defenses

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Dissertation Defenses

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