Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan's Animal Allies
Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan’s latest book, Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research, is out this week. Animal Allies features women who are doing cutting-edge research related to biology and animal conservation. I asked Elizabeth how she decided who to feature:
I looked for people working with known and unknown animals, but I also assessed each scientist's social media activity. A theme of this book is that they are all dedicated to science communication. They work hard to share their research and involve the general public, largely to protect and conserve the animals they research. They aren’t doing research in the old “ivory tower” that limits who has access to knowledge. They share their work and ideas and knowledge with the goal of involving and engaging everyone.
The result is a collection of scientists who are devoted to both conservation and outreach. The scientists’ social media handles are included in the book, so that readers can follow their work.
Animal Allies is organized by animal type – birds, arthropods, sea creatures, reptiles and amphibians, and mammals. One of the chapters is about Antarctica and penguin researcher Dr. Michelle LaRue. I asked Elizabeth about what surprising things she learned about Antarctica in writing Animal Allies:
I love penguins so I loved hearing how inquisitive they were with the scientists. I also loved learning about some of the Māori explorers. I was also astonished and captivated when Michelle talked about how Antarctica sounds. I want to go hear the noise, and the silence, for myself.
The chapter on LaRue does a great job explaining the science behind her work, which is using satellite images to track Antarctic wildlife. Part of this work is going to Antarctica to make sure that what they think they are seeing in the satellite images is actually what is happening on the ground – “ground validation.” In her chapter, LaRue describes Antarctica’s sights, sounds, and smells – penguins are stinky.
I found this book inspirational, but it also gives a realistic look at the challenges of being a woman in the field, which includes uncomfortable topics like racism and sexual harassment. I asked Elizabeth about why she felt it was important to include those discussions:
Racism and sexual harassment are realities in our world. It didn’t make sense to me to leave them out of a book that shares how these scientists navigated their chosen fields. Dealing with racism and harassment were as much a part of their experience as taking tests, doing fieldwork, and publishing their research. I want future scientists, of any identity, to know about these things and be ready to be anti-racist and anti-sexist. We need to talk about these problematic behaviors, learn how to recognize them, and be ready to challenge and change them.
Well said! I hope books like this can help to eliminate, or at least lessen, those issues. This is all very important work. I encourage everyone to check out Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research.
