Dr. Wallace "J." Nichols is a scientist, activist, community organizer, author and dad. He works to inspire a deeper connection with nature, sometimes simply by walking and talking, other times through writing or images. Science and knowledge can also stoke our fires. But he knows that what really moves people is feeling part of and touching something bigger than ourselves. J. is a Research Associate at California Academy of Sciences and founder/co-director of Ocean Revolution, an international network of young ocean advocates. He earned his MEM in Environmental Policy and Economics from Duke University's Nicholas School and his PhD in Wildlife Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Arizona. He advises a motivated group of international graduate students and serves as an advisor to numerous non-profit boards and committees as part of his commitment to building a stronger, more progressive and connected environmental community. Lately he is working on Oceanophilia: The Mind + Ocean Initiative (www.oceanophilia.org). He blogs at wallacejnichols.org.

Blog Entries by Wallace J Nichols

Your New Year Resolution: Adopt a Denier

Posted December 21, 2009 | 11:50 AM (EST)


Believe it or not, there are people who deny the veracity of the mountain of science behind the origins of humans (evolutionary biology), the formation of the universe (physics and cosmology), health care (medicine) and the state of our environment (environmental biology, chemistry and physics, again).

The so-called "deniers"...

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Plastic Needs a Time Out

Posted December 4, 2009 | 02:28 AM (EST)


Plastic Needs a Time Out from Wallace J. Nichols on Vimeo.

Plastic has pretty much had its way on our planet for the...

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Ocean Voices: Kids Describe a World Without an Ocean

Posted December 4, 2009 | 12:51 AM (EST)


Ocean Voices from Wallace J. Nichols on Vimeo.

Please visit:

Ocean Voices

To share your own voice and...

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Oceanophilia: The Neuroscience of Emotion and the Ocean

1 Comments | Posted November 8, 2009 | 09:05 PM (EST)


"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea -- whether it is to sail or to watch it -- we are going back from whence we came." 
- President John F. Kennedy

Once I met a man who hated the ocean. Intensely, he...

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Cleaning Up the Language Around Ocean Pollution

1 Comments | Posted November 7, 2009 | 12:07 AM (EST)


eu·phe·mism \ˈyü-fə-ˌmi-zəm\ noun: the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.

Language matters. In fact, it's a matter of life and death sometimes.

Captain Charlie Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation recounts the meeting when acceptance of the...

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The World Needs Some EcoDaredevils

1 Comments | Posted June 22, 2009 | 10:05 AM (EST)


Back in the 1970s, many of us idolized Evel Knievel. He was a rock star, sports hero and folk legend in one. He was both a daredevil and a cool character. Back then, his jumps over buses, fountains and canyons inspired us to launch our bicycles into the air and...

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What Will You Do With Your Blue Marble?

1 Comments | Posted May 25, 2009 | 07:26 PM (EST)


Do you know where to get the best local, sustainable seafood? Do you clean up plastic litter, even if it's not yours and no one is watching? Do you take reusable bags to the grocery store? In other words, do you live blue?

Well then, here's a marble.

If someone...

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The Plastics "Out There" and "In Here"

9 Comments | Posted May 13, 2009 | 04:13 AM (EST)


There's a patch of ocean out there about as far as you can get from people on this small blue marble we call Earth, and it is slowly filling with tiny flecks of plastic.

First, they said it was a "large area" the size of Texas. Then it was two...

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Nature Versus Narco

12 Comments | Posted April 26, 2009 | 12:58 PM (EST)


Of the tens of billions of dollars in cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs consumed in America each year, most come from or through Mexico. In their wake, the narco-industry has left a brutal legacy of violence that plays out nightly on our news -- decapitations, executions, assassinations and...

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