Jump to content

Rhett Ayers Butler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rhett Ayers Butler
Rhett Ayers Butler in Nov 2023
Born1978 (age 45–46)
United States
Alma materUniversity of California, San Diego (BSc)
OrganisationMongabay
Known forConservation science, Environmental journalism
AwardsParker-Gentry Award, Heinz Award

Rhett Ayers Butler (born 1978)[1] is an American journalist, author and entrepreneur who founded Mongabay, a conservation and environmental science news platform, in 1999.[2]

Butler founded Mongabay out of his interest in nature and wildlife.[3] The name "mongabay" originated from an anglicized spelling and pronunciation of Nosy Mangabe, an island off the coast of Madagascar.[4]

Butler has received multiple conservation, environmental, and journalism awards including the Parker-Gentry Award from the Field Museum of Natural History[5] in 2014, the SEAL Environmental Journalism Award in 2021,[6] and the Heinz Award for the Environment in 2022.[7]

LinkedIn categorized Butler as a "Top Voice", the platform's term for an influencer, as of April 2023.[8]

Education and career

[edit]

Butler studied Management Science and Economics University of California, San Diego, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree.[9]

In 2012 Butler founded Mongabayorg Corporation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California that raises awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems.[10] Mongabay.org was established in 2012 as the non-profit arm of Mongabay[11] and its first project with Mongabay-Indonesia, an Indonesian-language environmental news service.[12] Butler has served as CEO since inception.[13]

Reporting focus

[edit]

Butler's reporting has focused on environmental issues in the tropics, especially topics related to forests, like biodiversity, conservation, and deforestation. He's done extensive reporting in Indonesia,[14] Malaysia, Borneo, the Amazon rainforest, and Madagascar.

In 2011 Butler published Rainforests, a book geared toward kids.[15]

Research

[edit]

Butler has co-authored more than 20 academic papers in publications ranging from Science[16] to Trends in Ecology & Evolution.[17] These papers have usually focused on trends in deforestation and tropical forest conservation,[18] public interest in conservation,[19] conservation practice,[20] palm oil,[21] and conservation technology.[22]

Philip Jacobson arrest

[edit]

Butler played a prominent role in the effort to free American journalist Philip Jacobson after his detention on 17 December 2019 on an alleged visa violation.[23] Jacobson was released without charge on 31 January 2020.[24]

Awards

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Guynn, Jessica. "A site of inspiration". SFGATE. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  2. ^ Meehan, Emily (6 September 2006). "Not Letting Success Get to Your Head". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022.
  3. ^ Butler, Rhett (18 November 2018). "A lucky child: Mongabay's origin story". Mongabay News.
  4. ^ Wood, Barbara (8 November 2017). "How a curious kid from Atherton started and grew a global environmental news site". Almanac News.
  5. ^ "2014 Rhett Butler | Parker/Gentry Award". 21 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  6. ^ Harney, Matt (17 February 2021). "2020 Environmental Journalism Award Winners Announced". SEAL Awards. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Heinz Awards – Rhett Ayers Butler".
  8. ^ "Rhett Ayers Butler Bio – Rhett Ayers Butler". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Rhett Ayers Butler Bio – Rhett Ayers Butler". www.butlernature.com. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  11. ^ Butler, Rhett Ayers (29 October 2013). "Shifting to a non-profit model for environmental news reporting". Mongabay.
  12. ^ Sagita, Dessy. "Environmental Portal Launches in Indonesia". Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  13. ^ Butler, Rhett. "How Mongabay grew from a guy in his pajamas to a multinational media organization", Mongabay.com, 1 January 2019. Retrieved on 17 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Satellites Help Save Indonesian Forests". Voice of America. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  15. ^ "About Mongabay.com". data.mongabay.com. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  16. ^ Burivalova, Zuzana; Game, Eddie; Butler, Rhett (4 January 2019). "The sound of a tropical forest". Science. 363 (6422): 28–29. Bibcode:2019Sci...363...28B. doi:10.1126/science.aav1902. PMID 30606831. S2CID 57600432.
  17. ^ Butler, Rhett; Laurance, William (24 July 2008). "New strategies for conserving tropical forests". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 23 (9): 469–472. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.05.006. PMID 18656280.
  18. ^ Ghazoul, J; Butler, R; Mateo-Vega, J; Koh, L.P. (22 April 2010). "REDD: a reckoning of environment and development implications". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 25 (7): 396–402. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2010.03.005. PMID 20417579.
  19. ^ Burivalova, Zuzana; Butler, Rhett; Wilcove, David (9 October 2018). "Analyzing Google search data to debunk myths about the public's interest in conservation". Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 16 (9): 509–514. doi:10.1002/fee.1962. S2CID 91865977.
  20. ^ Sodhi, Navjot; Butler, Rhettt; Laurance, William; Gibson, Luke (1 November 2011). "Conservation successes at micro, meso and macro scales". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 26 (11): 585–594. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2011.07.002. PMID 21824677.
  21. ^ Butler, Rhett; Laurance, William F. (1 March 2009). "Is oil palm the next emerging threat to the Amazon?". Tropical Conservation Science. 2 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1177/194008290900200102.
  22. ^ "Mongabay.com". Mongabay.com. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  23. ^ Paddock, Richard (22 January 2020). "American Journalist Is Arrested in Indonesia Over Visa Issue". The New York Times.
  24. ^ Paddock, Richard (1 February 2020). "Indonesia Deports U.S. Journalist Jailed Over Visa Issue". The New York Times.
  25. ^ Field Museum "Parker/Gentry Award", Retrieved on 14 January 2021
  26. ^ Harney, Matt (17 February 2021). "2020 Environmental Journalism Award Winners Announced". SEAL Awards. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  27. ^ "Heinz Awards – Rhett Ayers Butler".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhett_Ayers_Butler&oldid=1244802777"