Reef Life (an Underwater Memoir)

By (author) Roberts Callum
Short description/annotation:
A life working on coral reefs by Britain''s foremost marine scientist and pioneering conservationist.
Description:
Reef Life is the story of how Callum Roberts, Britain''s pre-eminent marine conservation scientist, fell in love with coral reefs and embarked on a thirty-year career. He began as a young university student who had never been abroad, spending a summer helping to map the unknown reefs of Saudi Arabia. And from that moment, when Callum first cleared his mask, he''s never looked back, moving on to survey Sharm El Sheikh, and from there diving and researching all over the world, including Australia''s imperilled Great Barrier Reef and the more resilient reefs of the Caribbean. His stories are astonishing, lyrical and laced with a wonderful wry humour - and they allow us privileged access to, and understanding of, the science of our oceans and reefs. Reading this book will also commit readers to support Callum''s goal to get marine reserve status for ten percent of the world''s ocean.
Review quote:
Compulsory reading for scuba divers and armchair divers alike, Roberts tells at times hilarious stories of the ups and downs of reef research
Review quote:
A ravishing, alarming account of these underwater palaces of wonder, and the existential threat they face from humanity and our warming climate...The chief pleasure of this book is Roberts''s rich descriptive power. He was an adviser for Blue Planet 2, and his writing does more than justice to those stunning films. Nature''s throne rooms are thrown open by Roberts''s prose.
Review quote:
Part odyssey, part ''Reef Ecology 101'', Roberts'' witty and vivid descriptions of the underwater world are meshed with the most up-to-date findings, which suggest that "reefs cannot be climate-proofed and they can''t hide from climate change"
Review quote:
Reef Life is a vibrant memoir of the joys, as well as the grind, of a research career beginning in the 1980s that has spanned a golden age of coral reef science. It is also a fine introduction to the ecology of reefs and the existential threats they now face.
Review quote:
Compulsory reading for scuba divers and armchair divers alike
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Praise for Ocean of Life: ''Roberts is that precious pearl: a practising scientist who not only knows his field inside out, but also understands how to write compelling, persuasive non-fiction ... he has trawled and plundered these experiences to craft the nearest thing we are ever likely to get to an all-encompassing manifesto for sustainable marine management''
Review quote:
I know of no other volume that treats such divergent ocean issues with this much accuracy and acumen ... At the heart of this book is a deep love of the ocean and a profound concern for its viability as a resource for us all.
Biographical note:
Professor of Marine Conservation at York University, Callum Roberts is one of the world''s leading oceanographers. He was the Chief Scientific Advisor on Blue Planet 2 and writes regularly on marine issues for the Guardian. He is the author of two award-winning books, The Unnatural History of the Sea (Rachel Carson Award, 2007) and Ocean of Life (Mountbatten Award, 2013).
Promotional headline:
A life working on coral reefs by Britain''s foremost marine scientist and pioneering conservationist