Island Press
| Founded | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Washington, D.C. |
| Key people | Charles C. Savitt, President |
| Publication types | Books |
| Nonfiction topics | natural history , ecology, and conservation |
| Official website | www |
Island Press is a nonprofit, environmental publisher based in Washington, D.C., that specializes in natural history, ecology, conservation, and the built environment. Established in 1984, Island Press generates about half of its revenue through sales and half through donations by organizations and individuals.
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, and other topics. As part of this refocusing, Island Press moved its main office to Washington, D.C., where it remains today.
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.
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 ecosystem-based management and ecosystem services movements. By the start of the 1990s, the Press started to think seriously about how to reach a broader audience. The result was the creation of the imprint Shearwater Books in 1992. From its inception, Shearwater was intended as a forum for books that explore the interrelationships of nature, science, and human culture through literary non-fiction, biography, and cultural anthropology. In 1994, Island Press and Shearwater published The Naturalist, the book from Pulitzer Prize-winner E.O. Wilson, which the Los Angeles Times called, “…one of the finest scientific memoirs ever written, by one of the finest scientists writing today”. Over the years, Island Press has expanded its interest areas by offering books on old-growth forests, renewable energy, the built environment, and marine conservation. In addition to E.O. Wilson, Island Press has worked with a wide array of scientists, policymakers, and conservationists including Paul R. Ehrlich, Donald Kennedy, Joseph J. Romm, Jay Inslee, Peter Gleick, Jan Gehl, Peter Calthorpe, Bill McKibben, Allen Hershkowitz and Robert Glennon.
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