Spotlight August–October 2018. Recent Publications of Interest

Clint W. Boal, and Cheryl R. Dykstra, editors, Urban Raptors: Ecology and Conservation of Birds of Prey in Cities. Island Press, Washington, DC, 2018. Few species embody the “urban wild”—and the multitude of conservation issues that arise pertaining to wildlife in highly developed sites with a high human density—as do raptors that live in cities. This comprehensive, broadly accessible volume brings together scientific rigor with engaging accounts about all aspects of urban raptor conservation, including behavioral ecology, population ecology, human–raptor conflict and coexistence, rehabilitation and outreach, and city planning. Gregory P, Dietl, and Flessa, Karl W., editors, Conservation Paleobiology: Science and Practice. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 2017. This innovative book explores paleontological perspectives on how biotic systems evolved and how they respond to environmental changes, such as disturbance and perturbation. Presented through a conservation biology lens, with a focus on climate change, the editors have convened a spectrum of contributors to discuss what the deep past can teach us today about food webs, ecological modeling, aquatic acidification, population genetics, and corridor ecology. Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Chapple, Steve, Breakpoint: Reckoning with America's Environmental Crisis. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 2018. The authors, an eminent Smithsonian ecologist and an award‐winning environmental journalist, set their narrative in US landscapes from Louisiana to Iowa, where they delve deeply into hard environmental problems such as sea‐level rise, groundwater contamination, riparian area and wetland degradation, genetically modified crops, and the ecological and economic impacts of climate change‐related extreme weather events. This well‐cited volume provides a useful resource for university seminars that address how the science of ecology can inform and enable humans to live more sustainably on the earth. Donna J. Nelson, and H. N. Cheng, editors, Diversity in the Scientific Community, Volume 1: Quantifying Diversity and Formulating Success; and Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2018. Based on three American Chemical Society symposia held in 2016, these timely and essential volumes cover a multitude of aspects of the issue of lack of diversity in science and engineering fields. The editors take on topics such as LGBT inclusion, the empowerment of women, underserved minority (particularly Native American), and physically