Paleo Baby

Dr. James A. Estes, PhD is a researcher, author, and professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. For the past 50 years, he has been studying the ecology of coastal marine communities and keystone species. He has authored nearly 200 scientific publications with a primary focus on sea otters and their impact on surrounding sea life. He currently oversees research projects in the Aleutian Islands, central California, the Channel Islands, and New Zealand.  In this interview, Dr. Estes describes the massive ecological shift that can be observed when reducing the numbers of a single critical species. He shares the moment he recognized the cascading effects resulting from diminished sea otter populations in the Aleutian Islands, which then spurred decades of research. He also discusses the effect humans have had on the balance of the Earth’s ecosystems with industries including the fur trade, whaling and agriculture.  Here’s the outline of this interview with James Es