neurodivergent

A key concern in his book is that the “unique neurodivergent skillsets” of many conservation workers go unrecognised and unused. He singles out intense focus, heightened sensory awareness, pattern-spotting and “a moral compass that only points in the direction of the natural world”.

Biodiversity needs neurodiversity, says insightful new book Richard Smyth 2025

Pinning down precise definitions of neurodivergent experience is, of course, a hazardous and perhaps foolhardy enterprise.

Biodiversity needs neurodiversity, says insightful new book Richard Smyth 2025

But he is aware of drawbacks, too: hyperfocus goes with unhelpful hyperfixation, thinking laterally with thinking too literally, and, while “we might be amazing at analysing data, if you don’t understand my spreadsheet, you’re an idiot”. Harkness also acknowledges a tension many neurodivergent conservationists will always have to negotiate: “We’d rather spend our time with the thing that we most want to keep safe than the people who wreak havoc upon it.

Biodiversity needs neurodiversity, says insightful new book Richard Smyth 2025

What follows in Neurodivergent, By Nature: Why biodiversity needs neurodiversity is a timely and interesting study of the value and meaning of “nature” to neurodivergent personalities and a rigorous survey of how neurodiversity is accommodated in the UK’s conservation industry.

Biodiversity needs neurodiversity, says insightful new book Richard Smyth 2025

“You can’t gloss over the exploitation that so evidently occurs in this sector,” says Harkness. And that’s even before neurodivergent conditions are factored in.

Biodiversity needs neurodiversity, says insightful new book Richard Smyth 2025