Peter Warshall
Encyclopedia
Peter Warshall is an ecologist
, activist and essayist whose work centers on conservation and conservation-based development. After receiving his A.B. in Biology from Harvard in 1964, he went on to study cultural anthropology at l'École Pratique des Hautes Études
in Paris with Claude Lévi-Strauss
, as a Fulbright Scholar. He then returned to Harvard where he earned his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology.
Warshall's research interests include natural history
, natural resource management
(especially watershed
s and wastewater
practices), conservation biology
, biodiversity
assessments, environmental impact analysis, and conflict resolution
and consensus building between divergent economic and cultural special interest groups. He has worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Ethiopia
; for USAID and other organizations in ten other African nations; he has worked with the Tohono O'odham
and Apache
people of Arizona; and advised corporations such as Senco, Clorox, Trans Hygga, and SAS Airlines, as well as municipal governments such as the city of Malibu.
Warshall was the Sustainability
and Anthropology
one of the later editors of the Whole Earth Catalog
series, and served as an editor of its spin-off magazine, Whole Earth Review
. He has taught at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute, and was elected to the board of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District. Warshall is a member of the Global Business Network
. He recently co-directed the Dreaming New Mexico project.
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, activist and essayist whose work centers on conservation and conservation-based development. After receiving his A.B. in Biology from Harvard in 1964, he went on to study cultural anthropology at l'École Pratique des Hautes Études
École pratique des hautes études
The École pratique des hautes études is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions....
in Paris with Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
, as a Fulbright Scholar. He then returned to Harvard where he earned his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology.
Warshall's research interests include natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, natural resource management
Natural resource management
Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations ....
(especially watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
s and wastewater
Wastewater
Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations...
practices), conservation biology
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
, biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
assessments, environmental impact analysis, and conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
and consensus building between divergent economic and cultural special interest groups. He has worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
; for USAID and other organizations in ten other African nations; he has worked with the Tohono O'odham
Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...
and Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
people of Arizona; and advised corporations such as Senco, Clorox, Trans Hygga, and SAS Airlines, as well as municipal governments such as the city of Malibu.
Warshall was the Sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
and Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
one of the later editors of the Whole Earth Catalog
Whole Earth Catalog
The Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998...
series, and served as an editor of its spin-off magazine, Whole Earth Review
Whole Earth Review
Whole Earth was a magazine which was founded in January 1985 after the merger of the Whole Earth Software Review and the CoEvolution Quarterly. All of these periodicals are descendants of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog...
. He has taught at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute, and was elected to the board of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District. Warshall is a member of the Global Business Network
Global Business Network
Global Business Network, or GBN, is a strategy consulting firm and member of Monitor Group, that helps businesses, NGOs, and governments use scenario planning to plan for multiple possible futures....
. He recently co-directed the Dreaming New Mexico project.