Glenn W. Suter II. Fundamentals of Environmental Assessment. London, CRC Press, 2023.

The first edition of Ecological Risk Assessment, completed in 1992, was the first text in its field. The second edition, completed in 2006, was longer and dove more deeply into the practice of ERA. By then, the field was 20years old, and that experience went into the second edition. I was proud of it, it sold reasonably well, and I received compliments. However, there were clear signs that it did not suit everyone. The first review in Amazon was “Too technical for being called a textbook.” An academic colleague dismissed it as “encyclopedic.” A professional colleague described it as “dense.” A good friend and colleague read little of her gift copy because it was “not engaging.” Finally, I was told that it was too long for a text and that students these days are put off by large books. To me, a risk assessment book should be technical, it should cover the subject completely (encyclopedic), and technical writing should present the information efficiently (dense). However, I had to admit that my idea of what that book should be was not universally shared. This book is intended to address those issues, update the material, and appeal to more readers.