Rafe Sagarin
is an Associate Research Scientist in the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona and Program Manager for Oceans at Biosphere 2
Environment Editor
Rafe Sagarin is a marine ecologist at the Institute of the Environment at University of Arizona. Rafe's research includes everything from the historical and current sizes of intertidal gastropods (snails) to developing better ideas for national security, based on natural security systems. He is particularly interested in the Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of California, its ecological history, and the fascinating people past and present who have lived, worked, researched and journeyed there.
Authored by
Rafe Sagarin
May 15, 2014
Snakes, Sunrises, And Shakespeare
How our deep evolutionary past still shapes our modern tastes, desires, and aversions.
May 2, 2014
The Future Looks Good For Citizen Science
Public participation in science, or citizen science, is finding a foothold in all branches of science.
February 7, 2014
Books are Maps of Nature, Screens are Maps of Nothing
Our Stone Age brains never had or needed a way to process written symbolic language.
August 19, 2013
Stable Vices Revisited: SeaWorld And Early Human World
Our apparent dominance over evolutionary forces as an absolute victory seems as out of touch as a dancing killer whale in a swimming pool. At the very least, we should stop pretending that living the way we do now is ‘normal’ for humans, just as we are starting to realize that there’s nothing normal about an orca living among strangers in a pool and forced to do ridiculous tricks in front of thousands of screaming kids to get food.
June 7, 2013
Defeat Hackers With Biomimicry
Given that digital information is more central than ever, it's worrisome that the history of data security is littered with failure.
April 25, 2013
Biology And The Border
To understand why the border will never be secure, and why it doesn’t matter anyway, we have to turn to other voices.
April 10, 2013
Crisis Mapping, Bio Blitzes, and Google Flu Trends
Recent projects that exemplify an emerging revolution in how we interact with and understand a dynamic and complex planet.
March 6, 2013
To Become More Adaptable, Take a Lesson from Biology
Even the best of us are horrible at predicting the future.
November 13, 2012
Symbiosis and Sandy
The symbiotic relationship between Obama and Christie and in nature.
August 27, 2012
Multiple Personality Disorder in Conservationists
Are you an idealist or a pragmatist when it comes to conversation?
August 8, 2012
Interdisciplinary Science in the Anthropocene
my advice to those idealistic students after my own tortured career in interdisciplinary environmental science.
July 30, 2012
Conservation: Time for Triage or a Big Old Can of Red Paint?
Real conservation seems more like a scary and unpredictable black market.
July 27, 2012
Correlation, Causation, and the Bravery of Young Observational Scientists
Fracking, low birth weights and the scientific process.
July 20, 2012
Gorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers’ Traps—A First
Heartwarming story of gorillas dismantling poachers traps.
July 20, 2012
Learning From The Tubeworm About Turning A Crisis Into An Opportunity
adaptability, symbiosis, and the water crisis (or is it the “coming water opportunity?”).
July 18, 2012
Nature Isolation and Stable Vices
Is our increasing physical isolation from nature, and from one another, causing us to exhibit “stable vices”?
July 10, 2012
BioWatch, False Alarms, and Adaptable Alarms
Some of the best solutions for human problems can be found in nature.This article from the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-biowatch-20120708,0,3444893,print.story">July 7, 2012 Los Angeles Times</a> documents some of the vexing false alarms that have plagued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s multi-billion dollar BioWatch system.