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
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
Latest news
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Dr. Wagner’s latest essay featured in Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Dr. Wagner‘s newest essay, Coming into the colony, was published in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound on July 17 2025. Here’s a snippet of the introduction: Gulls are perhaps our most familiar seabird. Pick a seashore or even an occasional landfill, and you are likely to see at least a few. But casual sightings don’t…
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Field updates: Argentina, March 2025
Written by Dr. Eric Wagner Thanks once again to generous support from Zoo Augsburg, research scientist Dr. Eric Wagner and computer specialist Pearl Wellington traveled to Punta Tombo in early March for a couple of weeks to mark the end of the breeding season. Eric and Pearl went to deploy twenty geolocating time-depth recorder (GLD)…
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New essay by Eric Wagner: Behavioral Observation
Read Eric Wagner’s newest post for The Last Word called Behavioral Observation, where Eric tries to ground-truth accelerometry data to determine how often incubating penguins go down to the ocean to drink water, move, and possibly admire their interior decorating skills.