Island Press

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For the Australian publisher, see Island Press (Australia).
Island Press
Founded1978
FoundersCatherine Conover, Barbara Dean, Charles Savitt, Walter Sedgwick
Country of origin
conservation
Official websiteislandpress.org

Island Press is a

conservation, and the built environment. Established in 1978,[3]
Island Press generates about half of its revenue through sales and half through donations by organizations and individuals.

History

Island Press originated in northern California in 1978 as a publisher of books on the human relationship to the natural world. In 1984, the press re-organized to focus exclusively on books for people working on solutions to environmental problems, defined broadly to include the protection of biodiversity, land use planning, environmental issues related to international trade,[4] and other topics. As part of this refocusing, Island Press moved its main office to Washington, D.C., where it remains today. The founders in 1984 were Catherine Conover, Walter Sedgwick, Barbara Dean and Charles Savitt. Savitt stepped down as president on April 30, 2016. David Miller was named the new president.

Beginning with just a handful of titles per year and only three employees, Island Press has grown into a 30-person organization, governed by a 16-member Board of Directors comprising representatives from the scientific, philanthropic, academic, and conservation communities. Since 1984, Island Press has sold over 3 million books.[5]

Publishing

Today, Island Press publishes around 40 titles a year and has over 800 titles in its library covering topics that range from

ecosystem services to ecological restoration to climate change adaptation to conservation and the built environment. Its books are published around the world in over 15 languages including Chinese, Spanish
, Korean, Japanese, Italian, and Macedonian.

Throughout the 1980s, Island Press's title list focused primarily on books for environmental professionals and academics, with much of its focus on

Joseph J. Romm, Jay Inslee, Peter Gleick, Jan Gehl, Peter Calthorpe, Bill McKibben, Allen Hershkowitz
and Robert Glennon.

Programs

Around the mid-1990s, thanks in part to foundation grants made to the organization, as well as emerging interest in the environmental field, Island Press was able to expand its impact by incorporating several programmatic elements to complement topic areas explored in its print publications. Supported by this influx of both funding and public attention to the field, Island Press began organizing a series of technical assistance and training courses designed to help organizations and professionals strengthen their communication and achieve their goals. Currently, Island Press has a number of ongoing programs geared towards specific fields and titles, the most recent include:

CAKE: Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange

Island Press, with their partner EcoAdapt, launched the

georeferenced
and connect case studies, virtual library documents, and expert adaptation-planning advice with tools and an international directory of professionals and organizations practicing climate change adaptation.

Conservation Finance Boot Camp

In June 2007, the Yale Center for Business and the Environment held the first Conservation Finance Boot Camp, and has held one each year since. Island Press published three of the textbooks for this course, and in 2010 sponsored the first Western Conservation Finance Boot Camp at Stanford University. These week-long training camps provide the most up-to-date innovative and successful tools and financing techniques available for conservationists. Each camp also has specific focus areas, such as energy and mitigation funding, conservation development, or finding new sources of funding for land conservation during a recession.

Local Initiatives

In 2010, Island Press launched a local event series in

Bay Area to get experts and their messages in front of a broad network of constituents. For Seattle, it partnered with Town Hall Seattle for the Soundings from Island Press Series, which in 2010 included eight author speaking events and one panel focusing on "Our Future: Walkable Urbanism." Island Press also launched the Bay Area program with a speaking event for Peter Gleick and his book Bottled and Sold at the California Academy of Sciences
in September 2010. In 2011, Island Press brought both Peter Calthorpe and Tim Beatley to speak at the California Academy of Sciences. These initiatives aim to improve understanding and awareness of environmental issues in each location. They are anchored on cultivating partnerships with major venues, academic institutions, corporations, and media outlets, as well as on outreach to leaders in policy, business, and planning. To bring together local business and civic leadership, media, and citizenry to engage in issues, activities include public speaking engagements, editorial board visits, presentations, and panel discussions. In the near future, Island Press plans to expand these local initiatives to include New York, Chicago, and Boston.

References

  1. ^ "Publishers served by the Chicago Distribution Center". University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  2. ^ Sales Representatives
  3. ^ http://www.islandpress.org/
  4. ^ Dean, Cornelia. "Environmental Ideas Put in Print With Select Audiences in Mind." The New York Times [New York City] 8 Sept. 2009, New York ed., Section D sec.: D3. Web. [1]
  5. ^ "Passing the Torch at Island Press". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  6. ^ Los Angeles Times. "1995 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 10, 2003. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
  7. ^ http://www.cakex.org

External links

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