Paul in a Day's Work

Very little -- most of my time is involved in scientific research, which for me is fun.

I am Bing Professor of Population Studies, president of the Center for Conservation Biology, and professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University.

It all does -- our research group has specialized in studying environmental problems in the broadest sense -- everything from nuclear war, epidemics, and household size to the loss of biodiversity and the subsequent decay of ecosystem services.

I work closely with graduate students and assistants on projects ranging from using radiotelemetry and GIS technology to understand how birds utilize disturbed habitats in the tropics to studying how various parts of human culture evolve. I read a lot, because I must be familiar with a wide variety of fields. I also grovel and plead for money to support our research.

I was always interested in nature and evolution, and decided I'd rather starve as a college professor and have fun doing research all the time than make money and only do research on short vacations. When I first arrived at Stanford, I taught an evolution course where in the first nine weeks I told students where we'd come from and in the last week told them where we were heading. The last week's lectures attracted the attention of alumni and I began to get invitations to talk to them. That led to a speech in 1967 to the Commonwealth Club, whose talks are always broadcast on the radio. That led to more media appearances, eventually to approximately 20 times on the Johnny Carson show, and I was on the downhill slope as a public scientist.

I get about 300 a day, and delete most of them immediately. I haven't time to respond, and the sizes of my breasts and penis are just fine, I don't buy Viagra, and I don't send thousands of dollars to Nigeria to get my share of millions.

Hundreds of colleagues and friends. Sierra Club, Island Press.

Philadelphia Penn.; Stanford, Calif.

Finding out that there was so much DDT sprayed around New Jersey in the late 1940s that I couldn't raise caterpillars to get butterfly and moth specimens. And reading William Vogt's book Road to Survival in 1949.

Being turned down for a job at Northwestern because I was Jewish.

Receiving the Crafoord Prize from the Swedish Academy of Sciences, which created it as an explicit substitute for the Nobel (which they also award), but made it harder to get (it's only offered in my field every three years).

A computer and a pile of books, papers, and crap.

Various pundits who know nothing about the environment pontificating about it -- the epidemic "Julian Simon disease."

Rachel Carson.

George W. Bush.

I was a multi-engine, instrument-rated pilot, and loved it.

Walk more than anything else.

Books on oil and the history of the Middle East, military history, cultural anthropology, Connelly police mysteries, and Furst historical novels.

Raw oysters followed by Peking duck and finished by a hot-fudge, dusty-road sundae on vanilla (lots of hot fudge).

Love the out-of-doors.

Coto Brus, Costa Rica; Elk Mountains of Colorado; Bora Bora reefs. I can't choose.

Forbid any development of new land -- require developers to tear down an old mall and put a new one in the same place.

John Kerry, but I would choose Mickey Mouse over W. I hope Nader drops out, because I shudder about our fate if W. is allowed to further disrupt a shaky international system, continue to neglect our military and epidemiological security at home, and further press his war on the environment, civil rights, and women.

Yes, I am both an ecologist (scientific discipline) and an environmentalist (a citizen deeply concerned about the state of the environment). Sadly, too many "environmentalists" (e.g., Bush) are to the environment as Saddam was to democracy.

Alerting people to pollution and other symptoms of environmental deterioration.

Alerting people to the causes of environmental deterioration -- overpopulation, consumption, and the use of environmentally malign technologies. They could do better if they pointed these out in all their literature.

Overconsumption and deterioration of the epidemiological environment (for both, see my new book One With Nineveh).

Glenn Miller; also Glenn Miller (I'm a conservative).

West Wing. Master and Commander (Deep Throat XII is second favorite).

I'm always PC.

I'm almost finished with this questionnaire.

Send a copy of One With Nineveh to your congressperson.