--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you're a conservation biologist in…" description: "\"If you're a conservation biologist in many fields, you're seeing your study subject disappear. People are in the position where they're chronicling rad..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_biologist_if-you-re-a-conservation-biologist-in-ma_669193.png" --- # If you're a conservation biologist in many fields, you're… ![“If you're a conservation biologist in many fields, you're seeing your study subject disappear. People are in the position where they're chronicling radical decline, and that is not a position that conservation biologists want to be in.” quote by Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_biologist_if-you-re-a-conservation-biologist-in-ma_669193.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_biologist_if-you-re-a-conservation-biologist-in-ma_669193.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_biologist_if-you-re-a-conservation-biologist-in-ma_669193.png) > “If you're a conservation biologist in many fields, you're seeing your study subject disappear. People are in the position where they're chronicling radical decline, and that is not a position that conservation biologists want to be in.” [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Conservationists witness rapid loss, creating a painful, urgent narrative. **In simple terms:** Scientists see species vanish. Key Takeaway Act to protect biodiversity now. Themes environment loss urgency Mood somber urgent Type activist educational When to use this quote - policy advocacy - community education - habitat restoration - research funding Key Concepts ecology conservation climate change Questions to Reflect On - What actions can you take locally? - How do you cope with ecological grief? A Different Perspective Emotional toll can lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologist/) [Biologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologists/) [Conservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) ## Related quotes > [“Eating dinner with conservation biologists was like walking through a minefield of ethical decisions: grasslands have been overgrazed by steer raised for beef, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-roman/eating-dinner-with-conservation-biologists-was-like-walking-through-a/) [Joe Roman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-roman/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) > [Scientists generally, not just evolutionary biologists, don't take much for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/scientists-generally-not-just-evolutionary-biologists-don-t-take-much/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If the task of scientific methodology is to piece together an account of what scientists actually do, then the testimony of biologists should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/if-the-task-of-scientific-methodology-is-to-piece-together-an-account/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [What good men most biologists are, the tenors of the scientific world - temperamental, moody, lecherous, loud-laughing, and healthy. Your true biologist will sing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/what-good-men-most-biologists-are-the-tenors-of-the-scientific-world/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I grew up amongst biologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-grew-up-amongst-biologists/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [In mathematics we find the primitive source of rationality; and to mathematics must the biologists resort for means to carry out their researches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-comte/in-mathematics-we-find-the-primitive-source-of-rationality-and-to/) [Auguste Comte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-comte/) > [It gives evolutionary biologists great status if they champion competition and the economists have to consult them. The economists have to consult the evolutionary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-gives-evolutionary-biologists-great-status-if-they-champion/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Throughout the past century there has always existed a significant minority of first-rate biologists who have never been able to bring themselves to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-denton/throughout-the-past-century-there-has-always-existed-a-significant/) [Michael Denton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-denton/) > [If there were biologists among the extremophiles organisms that live in extreme conditions, they would surely classify themselves as normal and any life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-there-were-biologists-among-the-extremophiles-organisms-that-live/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I have a theory that evolutionary biologists are more vain than particle physicists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-ince/i-have-a-theory-that-evolutionary-biologists-are-more-vain-than/) [Robin Ince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-ince/) > [Cartoons are like fruit flies. Biologists use fruit flies because their large chromosomes and short life cycle make them ideal for studying hereditary changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mankoff/cartoons-are-like-fruit-flies-biologists-use-fruit-flies-because/) [Robert Mankoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mankoff/) > [Biologists can be divided into two classes: experimentalists who observe things that cannot be explained, and theoreticians who explain things that cannot be observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aharon-katzir/biologists-can-be-divided-into-two-classes-experimentalists-who/) Aharon Katzir > [It is an occupational risk of biologists to claim, towards the end of their careers, that the problems which they have not solved are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-smith/it-is-an-occupational-risk-of-biologists-to-claim-towards-the-end-of/) [John Maynard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-smith/) > [Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-crick/biologists-must-constantly-keep-in-mind-that-what-they-see-was-not/) [Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-crick/) ## More by Elizabeth Kolbert > [“The size of the greenhouse forcing is estimated, at this point, to be 2.5 w/m2. A miniature Christmas light gives off about four tenths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/the-size-of-the-greenhouse-forcing-is-estimated-at-this-point-to-be-2/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [You've got to do everything, everything's got to be pointing in the same direction and you've got to really turn this whole economic engine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/you-ve-got-to-do-everything-everything-s-got-to-be-pointing-in-the/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [Well in the scientific there is virtually no debate over certain things. For example, that we are changing the world. Humans are changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/well-in-the-scientific-there-is-virtually-no-debate-over-certain/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [Humans will eventually become extinct. People treat that as a radical thing to say. 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Or will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/as-the-effects-of-global-warming-become-more-and-more-difficult-to/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [As best as can be determined, the world is now warmer than it has been at any point in the last two millennia, and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/as-best-as-can-be-determined-the-world-is-now-warmer-than-it-has-been/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [I traveled really to amazing places. I went to the Great Barrier Reef, I went to the Amazon, I went to the Andes, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/i-traveled-really-to-amazing-places-i-went-to-the-great-barrier-reef/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“At the Biesbosch nature center, I met up with a water-ministry official named Eelke Turkstra. 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Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) > [... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. 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S. Haldane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-s-haldane/) > [The question of historicity and actuality with regard to gods and unicorns is a relatively trifling matter which may be left to antiquarians and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odell-shepard/the-question-of-historicity-and-actuality-with-regard-to-gods-and/) [Odell Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odell-shepard/) > [I've always been a serious computer nerd, as well as a biologist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-derisi/i-ve-always-been-a-serious-computer-nerd-as-well-as-a-biologist/) [Joseph DeRisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-derisi/) > [As an evolutionary biologist, I have learned over the years that most people do not want to see themselves as lumbering robots programmed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-smith/as-an-evolutionary-biologist-i-have-learned-over-the-years-that-most/) [John Maynard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-smith/) [Browse all 183 Biologist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you're a conservation biologist in many fields, you're seeing your study subject disappear. 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