Scientists Call For Greater Diversity of Viewpoints on Conservation

In a call to arms published this week in the journal Nature, a group of more than 200 environmental scientists, academics and others involved in the fields of conservation research, policy and advocacy, condemned what they called a lack of diversity within their ranks and the philosophical polarization they say it has engendered. Spearheaded by Heather Tallis, lead scientist at the Nature Conservancy, and Jane Lubchenco, a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the commentary argues that a once-spirited but constructive debate between two conservation philosophies — one viewing nature as intrinsically valuable, the other connecting its value with its utility — was now mired in vitriol and acrimony. “We believe that this situation is stifling productive discourse, inhibiting funding and halting progress,” the authors wrote, adding that the situation was being made worse because the “dispute has become dominated by only a few voices, nearly all of them men’s.”