Dr. Eric Wagner
Research Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0002-1681-4151
Eric Wagner has an M.A. in English and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington. He is generally interested in seabirds, and at Punta Tombo has studied the penguins’ behavioral ecology, as well as the effects that tourism can have on penguins more broadly. Closer to home, he collaborates with a team of researchers who work on rhinoceros auklets at two of their colonies off the Washington coast, looking at how a changing climate affects the birds in different marine systems.
Eric is also an award-winning science writer and author. His essays and journalism have appeared in The Atlantic, Audubon, High Country News, Orion, Smithsonian, and elsewhere, and he has written three books, including Penguins in the Desert and After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens. He is a regular contributor to The Last Word On Nothing, and Book Reviews editor for Marine Ornithology.
Recent publications
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A fearful scourge to the penguin colonies: Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) predation on living Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) may be more common than assumed
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Changing course: Relocating commercial tanker lanes significantly reduces threat of chronic oiling for a top marine predator
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Resilience to a severe marine heatwave at two Pacific seabird colonies
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Should I stay or should I go: factors influencing mate retention and divorce in a colonial seabird
Books
The View from Destruction: One Island, Twelve Thousand Birds, and the Futures of the North Pacific. Forthcoming. University of Washington Press.
Watch the webinar hosted by NOAA’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Feiro Marine Life Center
After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens. 2020. University of Washington Press.
Named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2020
Purchase through bookshop.org
Penguins in the Desert. 2018. Oregon State University Press.
Purchase through bookshop.org
Once and Future River: Reclaiming the Duwamish. 2016. University of Washington Press.
Purchase through bookshop.org