I have always been committed to communicating my academic and professional work to a broad audience, alongside a long-standing passion for birding and nature. I believe that more people than is often assumed are interested in engaging seriously with scientific ideas, and are willing to reflect, learn, and form informed views when those ideas are presented clearly and honestly.
Writing for non-specialist audiences has also been an important part of how I think. The discipline of translating academic concepts into everyday language often exposes gaps or assumptions in my own understanding, and helps me arrive at clearer ideas and new connections. In this sense, writing books is as much a process of learning as it is of communication.
Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery
Icon Books, 2020 | Illustrated Edition, 2021
I was invited to write Rewilding in 2018, at a moment when the term was beginning to enter both professional and public consciousness. There was growing interest, but also confusion, and I felt that conservation practitioners, students, and engaged citizens would welcome an accessible account of the science, ideas, and pioneering projects underpinning the approach.
By that point, I had spent over a decade researching, teaching, and debating rewilding, and working closely with many of the scientists and practitioners shaping the field. Translating this body of work into clear, accessible language proved more demanding than expected.
The process sharpened my understanding of several core concepts, revealed new connections between ideas, and deepened my appreciation of rewilding as a systems-oriented approach rather than a fixed model.
The book was published in Icon’s Hot Topics series and later picked up by MIT Press, who proposed an illustrated edition. Working with a graphic designer to translate systems ecology into visual schematics further deepened my thinking, forcing another round of conceptual clarification. The illustrated edition was extensively edited and has since been published in French, Dutch, and Spanish.
Conservation: A Beginner’s Guide
One World, 2010
(with Richard Ladle)
Three motivations lay behind this book. The first was a simple observation: visitor centre bookshops and general bookstores lacked a clear, readable introduction to contemporary conservation thinking for the interested public. The second was the recognition that many people working in conservation organisations now come from outside traditional conservation backgrounds and might welcome an accessible overview. The third was a desire to make some of the core ideas we taught on the MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management available to a wider audience.
The book distilled the themes, debates, and ‘hobby horses’ of that course into around 50,000 words. Inevitably, choices had to be made about what to include and what to leave out, but the aim was clarity rather than completeness. We were mildly deflated when the publisher chose a panda for the cover, but by that point we were already onto other projects — and couldn’t think of a better alternative!
Birding Indonesia: A Birdwatcher’s Guide to the World’s Largest Archipelago
Periplus Editions
I lived and worked in Indonesia during the 1990s, a period when much of my work involved frequent internal travel. Airport bookshops stocked an appealing series of Periplus travel guides, including Diving Indonesia and it struck me that the country deserved a comparable birding guide. I pitched the idea to the publisher, who accepted it.
Writing and editing the book was a joy. At the time, very few birders knew Indonesia well, and most of the contributors were friends and colleagues whom I invited to write chapters on regions they knew intimately. The result was a collection of photo essays exploring Indonesia’s birds, their conservation, cultural significance, and key birding destinations, alongside practical travel advice.
We were all very proud of the book. though when it appeared alongside Surfing Indonesia, it became clear that birding, and birders, would never quite be as cool!