Ocean conservation and climate change Marine fisheries catch more than 120m tonnes of sea life each year and have major impacts on ocean ecosystems and their biodiversity. Fishing trawlers are particularly harmful, killing non-targeted animals and destroying the structures they build (such as reefs). This transforms communities with a rich, three-dimensional structure into flat, muddy areas with little life. While researching the effects of global-warming-fueled hurricanes on sea turtle nesting in the Caribbean, I discovered a new technique to document the impacts from fishing trawlers using satellite imagery. Read more

Why are some species extinction prone? At the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project in Brazil's Amazon, I study why some forest birds go extinct after deforestation while others persist in the small patches that remain. I focus on two related aspects of bird behavior: social organization and movement. I have found that a species tendency to join social foraging flocks predicts how long it will persist in forest isolates. Moreover, I've seen extinction-prone species range over large areas, flying long distances, and crossing over deforested areas, more often than previously thought. Read more

I am interested in moral formation in the sciences and how that influences scientific research and discourse. Conservation is often termed a 'crisis discipline with a deadline', a phrase that relies on some concept of justice. But, whose justice? What makes it just? I use the moral theories of Alasdair MacIntyre and the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. to critique the popular (among scientists) positions of E O Wilson and Stephen Jay Gould. Both the linguistic argument that 'language makes thought possible', and the philosophical idea that concepts influence observation are helpful. I organized the interdisciplinary Ethics + Environment Lecture Series to encourage dialogue among academic disciplines on these topics. Read more

Ethical practice in a social tradition While 25% of the world's remaining tropical forests are in Brazil's Amazon, deforestation has been at near record rates in recent years. In addition to my research on bird extinction in Brazil, I work alongside local churches, missionaries, and ecumenical schools in teaching and practicing conservation. This region of South America is strategic for global conservation and these social groups are positioned to influence society. Read more

Selected Publications:
1. Van Houtan, K.S., Bass, O.L. (2007) Stormy oceans are associated with declines in sea turtle hatching. Curr. Biol. 17(15): R590-591.
2. Van Houtan, K.S., Halley, J.M., Pimm, S.L., Bierregaard, R.O., & Lovejoy, T.E. (2007) Dispersal of Amazonian birds in continuous and fragmented forest. Ecol. Lett. 10(3): 219-229.
3. Van Houtan, K.S. (2006) Conservation as virtue: a scientific and social process for conservation ethics. Conserv. Biol. 20(5): 1367-1372. COVER
4. Van Houtan, K.S., Pimm, S.L., Bierregaard Jr., R.O., Lovejoy, T.E., & Stouffer, P.C. (2006) Extinctions of flocking birds in Amazonian forest fragments. Evol. Ecol. Res. 8(1): 129–148. COVER
5. Van Houtan, K.S. & Alvarez-Loayza, P. (2006) Diet of nestling Green-and-gold Tanagers with notes on breeding behavior and seed dispersal. Ornitol. Neotr. 17(2): 307-312.
6. Van Houtan, K.S. & Pimm, S.L. (2006) “The various Christian ethics of species conservation” pp 116–147 in Religion and the New Ecology. University of Notre Dame Press, South Bend.

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Articles about my research:
Fox, D. (2007) Frequent hurricane decimate sea turtle beaches. New Scientist. 11 August 2007.
Dean, C. (2007) Satellites Show Harvest of Mud That Trawlers Leave Behind. New York Times. 15 May 2007, p F3.
Witze, A. (2007) Ghosts of Destruction. Nature. Vol 447, p 123.
Ward, A.H. (2006) U.S. Evangelicals Speak Out on Climate Change. Voice of America. listen
Adams, J.P. (2005) Meeting of the Waters. Duke Divinity Magazine. Fall 2005: 4-7. COVER
Basgall, M. (2003) A Conflict in Christian Attitudes Toward Biodiversity. Duke Magazine. January-February 2003: 19.

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I recommend reading:
David Chappell, A stone of hope
Anne Lamott, Bird by bird
The Book of Jonah
Alasdair MacIntyre, Whose justice? Which rationality?
Stuart Pimm, A scientist audits the earth

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