About

I grew up near the coasts of New York and Connecticut, and since an early age I was fascinated by the natural world, especially the ocean. I spent many days wandering the beaches on the edge of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic, collecting seashells and exploring tidepools. When I went to college at Brown University I wanted to become a marine biologist or more specifically a malacologist (seashell scientist). At Brown I quickly realized that although I loved learning about science, I wasn't cut out for a career in science, mainly because I wasn't very good in the lab, and I didn't particularly enjoy reading or writing scientific research papers. So, after taking a year off and exploring a range of career options, I shifted course turning toward the field of environmental policy, first earning a double-major in biology and environmental studies, then getting a masters degree in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a Ph.D. in environmental policy and planning from MIT, where my dissertation focused on the role of the courts in the cleanup of Boston Harbor.

I have held a variety of jobs, including stints as a fisheries policy analyst at the National Marine Fisheries Service, a program manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an environmental consultant stateside and in London, an American Association for the Advancement of Science writing fellow at Business Week, a curatorial assistant in the Mollusk Department at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, and an intern at the National Wildlife Federation, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, and the U.S. Senate.

Throughout my career, one thing remained constant--I enjoyed writing and telling stories. And that's why I started writing books--to share the stories that I find most intriguing (I have also published more than 60 articles for magazines, newspapers, and professional journals).

In addition to awards for my books (see below), I have also been the recipient of other honors, including the Switzer Environmental Fellowship, the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, and the Starr Fellowship for Public Service from Brown University. I am also a Nantucket Historical Society Research Fellow, and was awarded a special commendation from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for "Contributing to the Award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC."

My forthcoming book is Left For Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Isolation at the Edge of the World (May 7, 2024, Liveright).

Other Works

  • A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes

    2020
  • Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates

    2018
  • Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse

    2016
  • When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail

    2012
  • Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America

    2010
  • Political Waters: The Long, Dirty, Contentious, Incredibly Expensive but Eventually Triumphant History of Boston Harbor-A Unique Environmental Success Story

    2008
  • Leviathan: The History of Whaling In America

    2007
  • The Ph.D. Survival Guide

    2005
  • Snakehead: A Fish Out of Water

    2003
  • Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges

    2003
  • The Duck Stamp Story: Art, Conservation, History

    2000
  • International Environmental Treaty Making

    1992
  • Dirty Water Clean Water A Chronology of Events Surrounding the Degradation and Cleanup of Boston Harbor

    1991
  • The United States Fish and Wildlife Service

    1989

Awards and Recognition

  • Outdoor Writer’s Association, Best Book Award, for Fur, Fortune, and Empire
  • John Lyman Book Award, U.S. Maritime History, by the North American Society for Oceanic History, for Leviathan
  • Massachusetts Book Award, Nonfiction Honors, for Leviathan
  • The 23rd annual L. Byrne Waterman Award, for “Outstanding contributions to research and pedagogy in the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences,” by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, for Leviathan
  • Brilliant Beacons chosen by gCaptain and Classic Boat as one of the best nautical books of 2016.
  • Brilliant Beacons Chosen a "Must-Read" book for 2017 by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.
  • Fur, Fortune, and Empire, winner 2011 James P. Hanlan Book Award, given by the New England Historical Association, and chosen one of the best books of 2010 by The Seattle Times.
  • Leviathan, chosen as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Providence Journal
  • When America First Met China chosen by Kirkus Reviews as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of 2012
  • Black Flags, Blue Waters chosen as a Massachusetts Center for the Book “Must-Read” book for 2019, and was a finalist for the 2019 Julia Ward Howe Award given by the Boston Author’s Club.
  • A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize
  • A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes was chosen as one of the 50 notable books of non-fiction of the year by The Washington Post, and as one of the Best Science & Technology Books of 2020 by the Library Journal and Booklist. It was also selected as a "Must-Read" book by the Massachusetts Center for the Book, as an “Editor’s Choice” selection by the New York Times Book Review, and was the winner of Atmospheric Science Librarians International Choice Award for History.
  • Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution was awarded the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award and the Samuel Eliot Morison Book Award for Naval Literature, given out by the Naval Order of the United States; and was a finalist for the New England Society Book Award and the Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Book Award. Rebels was also selected as a “Must-Read” book by the Massachusetts Center for the Book