Erich Hoyt is a Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). He is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission’s Cetacean Specialist Group and co-chairs the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force which is currently rolling out the conservation tool called "Important Marine Mammal Area" or IMMA, across the global ocean.
Hoyt is the author of more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and 25 books, including Planktonia; Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises; Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises; Creatures of the Deep and Orca: The Whale Called Killer. His work has been translated into 15 languages and published in 25 countries.
In 2013, he received the Mandy McMath Conservation Award from the European Cetacean Society for his body of work on marine conservation. A Canadian-US dual citizen, Hoyt lives in Dorset with his wife, Sarah Wedden, a biomedical research scientist.
