Describes the reproductive rituals and tactics of a variety of animals, and discusses the origin of two-parent sex, animal monogamy, and social bonding

Courtship in the Animal Kingdom

Walters, Mark Jerome

Science & Math

Anchor

As a physician, nurse, veterinarian, dentist, or other health professional, you constantly face the challenge of describing complex ideas or delivering difficult information to laypeople. Whether this involves conveying the risk of a drug or the complexities of a procedure, or simply trying to elicit basic information from a client or patient, this book is designed to help. Concise, practical, and highly accessible, Communication Skills for Medical Professionals offers numerous insights and recommendations on how to establish rapport; overcome the barrier of feelings about unequal power and status in order to make good conversation possible; break down complex ideas into simple, digestible units; discuss risk; and strengthen listening skills. Rich in practical examples, Communication Skills for Medical Professionals is a concise guide to communicating more effectively with laypeople and with your professional peers.

Communication Skills for Medical Professionals

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Walters and Worth, LLC

A portrait of a species on the brink The only bird species that lives exclusively in Florida, the Florida scrub-jay was once common across the peninsula. But as development over the last 100 years reduced the habitat on which the bird depends from 39 counties to three, the species became endangered. With a writer?s eye and an explorer?s spirit, Mark Walters travels the state to report on the natural history and current predicament of Florida?s flagship bird. Tracing the millions of years of evolution and migration that led to the development of songbirds and this unique species of jay, Walters describes the Florida bird?s long, graceful tail, its hues that blend from one to the next, and its notoriously friendly manner. He then focuses on the massive land-reclamation and canal-building projects of the twentieth century that ate away at the ancient oak scrub heartlands where the bird was abundant, reducing its population by 90 percent. Walters also investigates conservation efforts taking place today. On a series of field excursions, he introduces the people who are leading the charge to save the bird from extinction?those who gather for annual counts of the species in fragmented and overlooked areas of scrub; those who relocate populations of scrub-jays out of harm?s way; those who survey and purchase land to create wildlife refuges; and those who advocate for the prescribed fires that keep scrub ecosystems inhabitable for the species. A loving portrayal of a very special bird, Florida Scrub-Jay is also a thoughtful reflection on the ethical and emotional weight of protecting a species in an age of catastrophe. Now is the time to act, says Walters, or we will lose the scrub-jay forever.

Florida Scrub-Jay: Field Notes on a Vanishing Bird

History

Americas

University Press of Florida

The Dance of Life: Courtship in the Animal Kingdom

Nature & Ecology

Arbor House Pub. Co

Recounts the extinction of the dusky seaside sparrow, whose sole, small habitat near Florida's Cape Canaveral was made unlivable by the development of the Kennedy Space Center, Disney World, and local real estate, in addition to government neglect.

A Shadow and a Song: The Struggle to Save an Endangered Species

Chelsea Green Pub. Co

Will the 'Alala ever return to the wild? A bird sacred to Hawaiians and a member of the raven family, the 'Alala today survives only in captivity. How the species once flourished, how it has been driven to near-extinction, and how people struggled to save it, is the gripping story of Seeking the Sacred Raven. For years, author Mark Jerome Walters has tracked the sacred bird's role in Hawaiian culture and the indomitable 'Alala's sad decline. Trekking through Hawaii's rain forests high on Mauna Loa, talking with biologists, landowners, and government officials, he has woven an epic tale of missed opportunities and the best intentions gone awry. A species that once numbered in the thousands is now limited to about 50 captive birds. Seeking the Sacred Raven is as much about people and culture as it is about failed policies. From the ancient Polynesians who first settled the island, to Captain Cook in the 18th century, to would-be saviors of the 'Alala in the 1990s, individuals with conflicting passions and priorities have shaped Hawaii and the fate of this dwindling cloud-forest species. Walters captures brilliantly the internecine politics among private landowners, scientists, environmental groups, individuals and government agencies battling over the bird's habitat and protection. It's only one species, only one bird, but Seeking the Sacred Raven illustrates vividly the many dimensions of species loss, for the human as well as non-human world.

Seeking the Sacred Raven: Politics and Extinction on a Hawaiian Island

Island Press

Discusses six new epidemics, exploring the connection between human changes to the natural environment and the appearance of West Nile virus, mad cow disease, HIV/AIDS, hantavirus, Lyme disease, a new strain of salmonella, and SARS.

Six Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them

Biological Sciences

Shearwater

"In a clear, engaging style, Dr. Walters tells the tale of each disease like a detective story. He allows each mystery to unfold as it did in reality, often slowly, through the lives of the plants and animals involved, the first human victims, the government officials who tried to respond, and the scientists who ultimately explained what was happening." -NEW YORK TIMES "...a fascinating work of ecological journalism, utterly convincing in its argument: that our health and the health of the environment are intimately linked, and we overlook that link at our peril." -MICHAEL POLLAN, AUTHOR OF SECOND NATURE AND THE BOTANY OF DESIRE "Mark Jerome Walters weaves a fine thread of human disturbances through the quilt work of modern pandemics. After being drawn engagingly into the explosive symptoms of global environmental change, readers will come to understand that we have no choice but to make peace with nature." -PAUL R. EPSTEIN, M.D., M.P.H., CENTER FOR HEALTH AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL West Nile Virus -- Mad Cow Disease -- HIV/AIDS -- Hantavirus -- Lyme Disease ... and a new strain of Salmonella. Such modern epidemics have emerged over the past few decades as mysterious, yet significant risks to human health. These "plagues" are forcing us to modify our lifestyles in ways that minimize our chances of becoming a statistic in the latest tally of the afflicted.In Six Modern Plagues, Mark Jerome Walters offers us the first book for the general reader that connects these emerging health risks and their ecological origins. Drawing on new research, interviews, and his own investigations, Mark Jerome Walters weaves together a compelling argument: that changes humans have made to the environment, from warming the climate to clearing the forests, have contributed to, if not caused a rising tide of diseases that are afflicting humans and many other species. According to Mark Jerome Walters, humans are not always innocent bystanders to infectious disease. To the contrary, in the case of many modern epidemics, we are the instigators. Six Modern Plagues, a ground-breaking introduction to the connection between disease and environmental degradation should be read by all those interested in their health and the health of others.

Title: Seven Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them Binding: Paperback Author: MarkJeromeWalters Publisher: IslandPress

Seven Modern Plagues: and How We Are Causing Them

Earth Sciences

Epidemiologists are braced for the big one: the strain of flu that rivals the pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed at least 20 million people worldwide. In recent years, we have experienced scares with a host of new influenza viruses: bird flu, swine flu, Spanish flu, Hong Kong flu, H5N1, and most recently, H5N7. While these diseases appear to emerge from thin air, in fact, human activity is driving them. And the problem is not just flu, but a series of rapidly evolving and dangerous modern plagues. According to veterinarian and journalist Mark Walters, we are contributing to-if not overtly causing-some of the scariest epidemics of our time. Through human stories and cutting-edge science, Walters explores the origins of seven diseases: mad cow disease, HIV/AIDS, Salmonella DT104, Lyme disease, hantavirus, West Nile, and new strains of flu. He shows that they originate from manipulation of the environment, from emitting carbon and clear-cutting forests to feeding naturally herbivorous cows "recycled animal protein." Since Walters first drew attention to these "ecodemics" in 2003 with the publication of Six Modern Plagues, much has been learned about how they developed. In this new, fully updated edition, the author presents research that precisely pinpoints the origins of HIV, confirms the link between forest fragmentation and increased risk of Lyme disease, and expands knowledge of the ecology of West Nile virus. He also explores developments in emerging diseases, including a new chapter on flu, examining the first influenza pandemic since the Hong Kong flu of 1968; a new tick-borne infection in the Mid-West; a second novel bird flu in China; and yet a new SARS-like virus in the Middle East. Readers will not only learn how these diseases emerged but the conditions that make future pandemics more likely. This knowledge is critical in order to prevent the next modern plague.

Business & Money

Economics

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Walters, Mark Jerome. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Walters, Mark Jerome

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Walters, Mark Jerome. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Courtship in the Animal Kingdom

Communication Skills for Medical Professionals

Florida Scrub-Jay: Field Notes on a Vanishing Bird

The Dance of Life: Courtship in the Animal Kingdom

A Shadow and a Song: The Struggle to Save an Endangered Species

Seeking the Sacred Raven: Politics and Extinction on a Hawaiian Island

Six Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them

Six Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them

Seven Modern Plagues: and How We Are Causing Them

Seven Modern Plagues: and How We Are Causing Them