At Every Depth

The oceanographer Tessa Hill and the science journalist Eric Simons profile efforts to understand and protect marine environments, taking readers to habitats from shallow tidepools to the deep sea.

Tessa Hill is a professor in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at the University of California, Davis, who teaches and researches oceanography and climate change. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she was awarded the Rachel Carson Lecture by the American Geophysical Union.

Eric Simons is a science writer who was a longtime editor at Bay Nature magazine. He is the author of Darwin Slept Here (2009) and The Secret Lives of Sports Fans (2013). In addition to writing about science, nature, and the ocean, he teaches high school math.

What sets [this] account apart from previous efforts in the field is that [the authors] delve deeply into traditional knowledge of the marine realm that existed in indigenous coastal and island communities until these cultural links were destroyed by colonialism and modernisation.

Well written, thoroughly researched and documented, this compilation would enhance any collection serving adult readers.

Provide[s] perspective on the changing oceans, letting us see how our relationships with the oceans are changing too.

At Every Depth... is an antidote to indifference, a call to deepened attention. The authors convey something of the passionate attention that goes into the detailed understanding of a given aquatic ecosystem.

[This book] surprised me with its fresh take on the effects that humans are having on the great bodies of water that cover our planet. [It] is a welcome addition to the conversation on climate change.

A top 8 science book to look for in early 2024.

An incisive look at a world in crisis. This troubling assessment of how humans are devastating the world’s oceans hits home.

Angee Doerr, Oregon State University:
This is one of the best books I’ve read in a really long time. Tessa Hill is an amazing scientist and Eric Simons is a very talented writer—together they’ve developed one heck of a book, interweaving personal narrative and scientific research in perfect balance.

Ellen Prager, author of Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter:
The greatest strength of At Every Depth is its storytelling. Tales of scientific investigation join explorations of Indigenous peoples’ connection to the sea and how ocean changes affect tradition and communities. The authors at once provide information and inspire with emotion.

Drew Harvell, author of Ocean Outbreak: Confronting the Rising Tide of Marine Disease and A Sea of Glass: Searching for the Blaschka’s Fragile Legacy in an Ocean at Risk:
At Every Depth takes us from rocky shore surveys to diminishing riches on coral reefs to the once trackless deep sea, chronicling the greatest discoveries and changes for every major habitat in the oceans. The riveting stories of Indigenous peoples, scientists, and explorers are essential for everyone who cares about the oceans.