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Political science professor Mike Gunter’s most recent book, Climate Travels, published by Columbia University Press, was named the gold winner for adult nonfiction in the genre of ecology & environment in the 2023 Foreword magazine INDIES book awards. Foreword is a bimonthly magazine specializing in critical reviews and title trends from the expanding independent publishing market, with a readership of more than 35,000 librarians and book professionals.

Climate Travels also won a 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association (ALA) and is a finalist for the prestigious Penn Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability. The American Library Association, the oldest and largest library association in the world, is a U.S. nonprofit organization that promotes libraries and library education internationally. The University of Pennsylvania Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability acknowledges outstanding contributions to the global discourse on environmental sustainability, with a specific focus on books that have a substantial impact on the public’s understanding of these crucial issues.

In his book, Gunter takes readers around the United States to showcase the many faces of the climate crisis and argues that conscientious travel broadens our understanding of climate change. Published in March 2023, the book features vivid vignettes—like sea level rise in Virginia and Maine lobsters migrating away from American territorial waters—and inspiring initiatives to mitigate and adapt to various threats, emphasizing the centrality of environmental justice and offering readers a hopeful message about how to take action themselves.

Gunter’s previous books include Building the Next Ark: How NGOs Work to Protect Biodiversity (2004) with Dartmouth and Tales of an Ecotourist: What Travel to Wild Places Can Teach Us About Climate Change (2018) with SUNY Press.

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