Michael E. Soulé

Michael E. Soulé is a U.S. biologist, best known for his work in promoting the idea of conservation biology. He earned a Ph.D. in Population Biology at Stanford University under Paul R. Ehrlich. He co-edited with Gary Lease a book of essays titled Reinventing nature?: responses to postmodern deconstruction (1995), which was a response to the arguments presented by environmental historian William Cronon and others in Uncommon ground: toward reinventing nature (1995). He is Research Professor (Emeritus) in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz. Soule was a cofounder of the Society for Conservation Biology and currently serves on the board of Round River Conservation Studies and the Wildlands Network.
Soulé has most recently spoken out against approaches to environmental conservation that discount the value of species diversity.