A new endangered marine species - marine conservation scientists in academia?

Many marine conservation scientists are based in higher education institutions but increasingly academia does not value factors important to conservation when considering promotion and tenure. There is pressure in academia to... [ view full abstract ]

Many marine conservation scientists are based in higher education institutions but increasingly academia does not value factors important to conservation when considering promotion and tenure. There is pressure in academia to published in academic journals (especially high impact factor journals; conservation journals typically have an impact factor of <4) but these typically have poor readerships, especially by those that need the information (conservation practitioners, managers, and policy makers). Promotion is often dependent on gaining grants with proportion of the grant overhead going to the institution, whereas conservation typically has small grants with low overheads. In the US, R1 universities are even worse with their status being dependent upon federal funds, yet much conservation is funded by NGOs and Foundations, thus little credit is given for receiving these grants. Little to no credit is given by academic institutes to important conservation activities if it does not have a dollar value: helping to establish protected areas, protective laws and regulations; conducting public outreach; advising managers and policy makers; aiding conservation capacity building. It is unlikely that an academic institution will grant tenure to faculty whose practical work saved a species or ecosystem. Either, academic institutes start to better value the work of conservation scientist or the “academic conservation scientist” might themselves become endangered.