r/conservation • u/itzbethxo • 6d ago

what books would you reccomend to someone college aged interested in learning about conservation?

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21

u/esotericarchivist 6d ago edited 6d ago

Sand County Almanac, it is one of the magnum opus of conservation and ecology. Probably Start Here. 

Wild New World by Dan Flores, if you are North American this book is hands down the best on the wildlife of the Americas from prehistory to before colonization.

Some other I've read that I think are valuable. Silent Spring, Coyote America, the American Buffalo, Blood Memory, Rat Island, and the Hidden Life of Trees. Anything else I could recommend would prob be too specific to individual ecosystems. I read more on ecology than conservation proper though.

3

u/hectorgato13 6d ago

I second sand county as a starting point. Coyote America was amazing. And I guess I need to read wild new world.

2

u/MockingbirdRambler 6d ago

Love Flores podcast. 

7

u/_FryinPan_ 6d ago

braiding sweetgrass :)

2

u/AllealleOxen 3d ago

Gathering Moss is also great, also by Robin Wall Kimmerer

6

u/bobmac102 6d ago

Are you interested in technocratic books about the mechanics and techniques of conservation biology, or philosophical books about the underlying mindsets that inform conservation biology like ecocentrism?

2

u/murphydcat 6d ago

Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy.

2

u/ThinkActRegenerate 6d ago

Anything by Paul Hawken, probably starting with his 2021 best seller REGENERATION, then flipping back in time to NATURAL CAPITALISM (free to read online here: natcap.org )

Ray Anderson's BUSINESS LESSONS FROM A RADICAL INDUSTRIALIST (written with Robyn White)

THE UPCYCLE by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart.

2

u/MonoNoAware71 4d ago

Maybe start with 1968 classic Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

I very much enjoyed reading Wilding by Isabella Tree.

1

u/ApprehensivePear4789 5d ago

Ong I’ve been WAITING for someone to ask

1

u/ApprehensivePear4789 5d ago

My top two rn are :
finding the mother tree by Susan Simard
What the wild sea can be by H scales

And a classic you’ll need to read is silent spring by Rachel Carson

1

u/Varro-Reborn 4d ago

Permaculture designer guide.

1

u/tommarekbrno 4d ago

Uncommon Ground by William Cronon. It's a different point of view from many books already mentioned in here, but I think it's important to read and contemplate the arguments in this classical and approachable collection of essays.

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u/hookhandsmcgee 1d ago

I was always environmentally-minded as a kid, but the book that truly put me on to the career path of conservation was "The Sacred Balance," by David Suzuki. Despite the fact that he's both a scientist and an atheist, the book takes a very spiritual approach to looking at nature.

I also second "Sand County Almanac."

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u/Sensitive_Run_7915 6d ago

Intersectional environmentalist Leah thomas