I grew up near the coasts of New York and Connecticut, and since an early age I was fascinated by the natural world, especially the ocean. I spent many days wandering the beaches on the edge of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic, collecting seashells and exploring tidepools.
When I left for college, I wanted to become a marine biologist or more specifically a malacologist (seashell scientist). At Brown University I quickly realized that although I loved learning about science, I wasn’t cut out for a career in science, mainly because I wasn’t very good in the lab, and I didn’t particularly enjoy reading or writing scientific research papers. So, after taking a year off and exploring a range of career options, I shifted course turning toward the field of environmental policy, first earning a double-major in biology and environmental studies, then getting a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale, and a Ph.D. in environmental policy and planning from MIT, where my dissertation focused on the role of the courts in the cleanup of Boston Harbor.
Books in order of publication:
Fish and Wildlife Service – 1989
Dirty Water Clean Water – 1990
International Environmental Treaty Making – 1992
The Duck Stamp Story – 2000
Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges – 2003
Political Waters – 2004
Snakehead – 2003
The Ph.D. Survival Guide – 2005
Leviathan – 2007
Fur, Fortune, and Empire – 2010
When America First Met China – 2012
Brilliant Beacons – 2016
Black Flags, Blue Waters – 2018
A Furious Sky – 2020
Rebels At Sea – 2022
Oak Lawn Library Friends 