Society for Conservation Biology

Member Spotlight

John Woinarski ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Woinarski is a professor at Charles Darwin University and a consultant with the Pew Charitable Trusts. He won an SCB Distinguished Service Award in 2013 for his contributions to knowledge and management of the north Australian biota. Most recently, his work was instrumental in revealing the catastrophic decline in north Australia mammals and implementing strategies to reverse that troubling trend. 

In the following Q&A with SCB, John discusses where he got his start in conservation, his favorite projects, and the biggest challenges he sees in conservation today. He also offers advice to young conservation biologists who want to understand 'how the world works' and make a difference in the field.  

How did you first become interested in conservation biology?

Luck, and inspiring guides. I was fortunate to have been brought up in two largely natural places, with my formative years spent in a very small village nestled in extensive forest in the mountains of south-eastern Australia. Much of my youth was spent wandering alone in those forests, trying to learn the names of things and how the system worked. The conservation seed was planted early, maybe when I was about 10 years old, with the clearing of a beautiful woodland adjacent to our house: it seemed so uncaring. Some inspiring teachers in school showed me various keys to the understanding of nature, and taught me that it was right that we should value it.

 

John Woinarski ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------- "What works for me is to aim to get inside the head of my study animal, to seek to see the world from their perspective...a solely human perspective on the workings of nature is limiting and shallow." John Woinarski ---------------

 

Do you have a project or success story that you feel particularly proud of?

I might evade that question: I’ve enjoyed most all of my work. I’ve worked mostly on research, management and policy concerning threatened species. The tide is ebbing on many of these species and ‘success’ is often simply about understanding causality, reducing the rate of decline, or of stabilising a fragile status. In many cases, such imperfect outcomes are accomplishments that provide some hope.

Based on your own experiences, what do you see as some of the greatest challenges the conservation world faces today?

 

One of the greatest challenges, and one that I fail often, is about maintaining optimism and some belief in the morality of our species. Most of my lifetime’s work has been in remote and largely natural parts of Australia. Given that we are witnessing substantial biodiversity decline in even these areas, the fate of nature elsewhere in the world must be extraordinarily insecure. Our influence permeates the lands and waters of this planet, often detrimentally; and that influence and impact is growing irrevocably as our societies are driven by a perceived need for growth. The challenge is to shift morality to a more altruistic regard for other species  and for the inheritance we leave our descendants, to live within our means, and to restore a sense within individuals and our society of the wonder and necessity of nature.

 

What advice would you give to early-career conservation biologists who are looking to be professionals in the field?

We are blessed in our profession. Conservation biology offers extraordinary opportunities for the time-honoured human quest of answering the question: ‘how does the world work?’ Resolving that mystery through insight or deliberate and logical inquiry is a delectable challenge, and one that we can spend a lifetime on at one spot, or at fresh canvasses across the world. But it is more than a simple intellectual puzzle, for it touches also on our ability to do good, to live a life that provides some benefit to others. Done well, our profession is a beautiful amalgam of science and morality; it can bring great satisfaction, wonder and joy; and it can deliver enduring value.

 

More practical advice: what works for me is to aim to get inside the head of my study animal, to seek to see the world from their perspective. That may be more challenging for botanists, but the idea is the same: a solely human perspective on the workings of nature is limiting and shallow.

John Woinarski  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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