Eric Jay Dolin (1989)




Fellowship Year: 1989
Academic Background: MIT - Ph.D.
Eric Jay Dolin, who grew up near the coasts of New York and Connecticut, is a fulltime writer. He graduated from Brown University, where he majored in biology and environmental studies. After getting a master’s degree in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, he received his Ph.D. in environmental policy and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dolin has worked as a program manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an environmental consultant stateside and in London, an intern at the National Wildlife Federation and on Capitol Hill, a fisheries policy analyst at the National Marine Fisheries Service, and an American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellow at Business Week. Much of Dolin’s writing reflects his interest in wildlife, the environment, and American history. His books include the Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges; Snakehead: A Fish Out of Water; Political Waters, a history of the degradation and cleanup of Boston Harbor; and Leviathan: The History of Whaling In America, which was chosen as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and The Providence Journal; and by Amazon.com’s editors as one of the 10 best history books of 2007. Leviathan also won a number of awards, including the 2007 John Lyman Award for U. S. Maritime History, given by the North American Society for Oceanic History; and the 23rd annual L. Byrne Waterman Award, given by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, for outstanding contributions to whaling research and history; Nonfiction Honors designation from the Massachusetts Book Awards (2008); and a silver medal for history in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (2008). His most recent book—Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America—was chosen by New West, The Seattle Times, and The Rocky Mountain Land Library as one of the top non-fiction books of 2010. It also won the 2011 James P. Hanlan Book Award, given by the New England Historical Association, and was awarded first place in the Outdoor Writers Association of America, Excellence in Craft Contest. Dolin, his wife, and two children, reside in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Expertise: Environmental Policy & Law, Coastal & Marine Issues, writing, American history.
Expertise: Environmental Policy & Law, Coastal & Marine Issues, Environmental Policy & Law