Summary: It's 2025 and white supremacy and male domination are growing problems. This is not new, there is a long and terrible history of oppression in our country, and the current manifestations of this, including violence against people of color, women, queer, and non male-identifying people is hurting all of us. 

My values: Everyone deserves the right to safely explore and appreciate this incredible world. I am committed to challenging and ultimately ending racism, however it manifests (overt, covert). Black Lives Matter. I am still saying this, and acting on this. I believe that undoing racism targeted at Black people in particular is a key strategic step to eliminating racism, sexism, classism, anti-Semitism, gay oppression, and all forms of oppression. Everyone will benefit from this work but that is not why we need to do it; the work is intrinsically important because a debt is owed to Black people, particularly because of the enslavement of people of African heritage. If we make progress on this front it will help our society learn to face many important debts, including the fact that here in North America, all of our infrastructure has been and continues to be built upon land stolen from Indigenous peoples and by the unpaid or underpaid labor of people of the global majority, often under brutal conditions. 

How does this connect to marine biology, you might ask? I've noticed that nearly all people who get mad and ask this are white. Interesting coincidence? In all sectors of society we need to take action against racism, regardless of what our profession is. This work is part of our work as scientists, because racism is operating in our labs, institutions, and communities. Racism is hindering brilliant and creative people from safely accessing nature to pursue natural history! For me, the thing I cherish most about my role as a scientist is being in nature, observing and geeking out about the strange things I see. There is a profound, heartbreaking violence to the way that many people of color have been excluded from the right to safely be in nature. This is something I fully take for granted as a white man. So, I hope you can see why I believe that a clear statement on this is important. 

Why now? I started really deciding to work on strategizing and fighting to dismantle racism in 1999. While I won’t try to summarize what I’ve done on this here, either way, it hasn’t been enough. The institutions of oppression are systemic and very deep. Given that I have a position of leadership, I believe that it is important that I am visible with my values.

Actions: Let’s please join together in openly cherishing and supporting our Black, Asian, Latinx and people of color peers and colleagues in marine biology, ecology, ocean sciences, environmental sciences, and conservation (and beyond!). Join me in taking action. Vote, donate, read, have an opinion, share it with elected officials, and finally, and very importantly for other white people, LISTEN.

Please note that I recognize that this statement is not a comprehensive piece of activism in itself. It is just a statement of my values. It’s hard to address a complex issue in few words and not make mistakes or come off as fake. 

We should all have an ethos. I’ll conclude by pointing out that this statement is consistent with the CTELab policies and ethos document that I wrote for our research group in 2018. All members of my lab have discussed, agreed to, and signed this document starting in 2019. Please feel free to check out the CTELab ethos (attached below) update for 2025.