Chris Darimont is the director of science at Raincoast, and the lead scientist at the Raincoast Applied Conservation Science Lab at the University of Victoria. His work is in biology, evolution and ecology. You can find him on the coast, and sometimes in the waves, somewhere between San Diego and Haida Gwaii.
When evidence informs advocacy, a potent approach to conservation becomes available. This philosophy underpins everything we do at Raincoast. One of the primary vehicles to support our unique delivery of what we call informed advocacy is the Raincoast Applied Conservation Science Lab at the University of Victoria. Partnered with a science-based non-profit and dedicated to…
Last year the Raincoast lab at UVic marked an important new milestone with the creation of the Raincoast Chair in Applied Conservation Science at the University of Victoria. This five year Chaired Professorship allows us to expand our research, teaching and outreach programs in community-driven applied conservation science. Our long-term vision is to train next…
Writing in the scientific journal, Conservation Letters, an international team of conservation scientists is challenging the conservation community to fully consider the ethics of trophy hunting and think critically about endorsing the practice as a key funding mechanism for wildlife protection. Read our new paper, “The elephant (head) in the room: A critical look at trophy…
Most people can accept the idea of suffering and death if the hunter kills to fulfill a basic life requisite, such as feeding one’s family; in contrast, most people oppose killing inedible animals for trivial reasons, such as feeding one’s ego…
As the year closes, I look back on what Raincoast has achieved in 2017. I envision a 2018 comprised of more accomplishments for nature, people, and the places we love. What a year 2017 was! Our research and informed advocacy…
Research from Raincoast and UVic has shed new light on what satisfies hunters. Reporting in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, we found that appreciation of nature and affiliation are common, but less pronounced ‘satisfactions’ expressed by hunters.
Highlights from the waves, winds, wildlife and more.
We left Vancouver Island’s rugged shore and steamed north toward a vast region known as the Great Bear Rainforest. Before us lay hundreds of miles of unspoiled coastline…
Check out Chris Darimont’s blog post at Patagonia’s ‘The Cleanest Line’ on surfing the Great Bear Rainforest, the threat from oil tankers to BC’s coast and more…
How could we possibly give voice to marine mammals and other life threatened by one of the largest industrial projects ever conceived? After all, whales, dolphins and the like – as intelligent as they are – cannot mount their own defense against the oil industry. Oil giant Enbridge Inc. and its international partners have proposed…
My two passions have united in a spectacular way. I have dedicated my scientific career (and life) to studying and protecting the Great Bear Rainforest. I have also dedicated a good part of my life to surfing…
By Chris Darimont
Owing to Raincoast’s leadership in using exclusively non-invasive research, I was called upon to organize and chair a conference session on “Wildlife Science and the 3 Rs” at the 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences…