I am the author of more than eighty books on science for young readers. My books for teens include The Monarchs Are Missing: A Butterfly Mystery, Climate Migrants: On the Move in a Warming World, and Where Have All the Bees Gone? My books have won many honors, including a Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, a John Burroughs Association Riverby Award for nature writing, and a place on Booklist's Top 10 Books on the Environment & Sustainability for Youth for 2020. I hold a PhD in cellular & molecular biology, and my background as a professional biologist informs my writing.
Turner chronicles the life of George Schaller, a pioneering field biologist who has dedicated his life to saving the world's great wild beasts. You'll travel the world with Schaller as he observes and tries to save some of the world's most endangered animals: mountain gorillas in Central Africa, lions in the Serengeti, snow leopards in the Himalayas, and more. This adventure-packed biography is illustrated with Schaller's own photographs and carries a powerful message about the importance of conservation.
For more than fifty years, explorer-naturalist George Schaller has been on a mission: to save the world's great wild beasts and their environments. In this compelling biography, illustrated with Schaller's own striking photographs, Pamela S. Turner examines the amazing life and groundbreaking work of the man International Wildlife calls "the world's foremost field biologist." Schaller's landmark research revolutionalized field biology, demonstrating that it is possible to study dangerous animals in their own habitats: mountain gorillas in Central Africa, predatory tigers in India, mysterious snow leopards in the Himalayas, and many others. His insights about species and environment led him to…
I’ve always been an animal lover who's also interested in what makes different creatures tick: how they’ve evolved as living beings, where and how they exist, and what role any given one plays in our world at large. I also find bodies of water calming to gaze at, fun to splash in and sail on, and it’s intriguing to study them as ecosystems. Each type—from small transient sidewalk puddles to vast enduring seas—can support some form of animal life under the right circumstances. And, for me, the fact that we humans spend most of our time experiencing life on land makes marine life that much more mysterious and magical to learn and write about.
I love a good photo-essay, and this one for ages 10+ examines the declining seahorse population and what one conservationist group has done to try to reverse that trend in The Philippines.
Eye-popping photography draws readers in, inviting them to witness the charming seahorse’s life, habitat, and precarious circumstances; to watch scuba-diving scientists collect crucial research; and to understand efforts to educate children and communities about aquacultural practices that help protect seahorses and their underwater environment.
Seahorses, some of the ocean’s most charming fish, are in trouble. In the past twenty years their populations has declined. They are threatened by overfishing, pollution and climate change. In Handumon in the Philippines, villagers and conservationists have joined to protect the seahorse and the coral reefs where they live. Amanda Vincent and Heather Koldewey, founders of Project Seahorse, work with Filipino colleagues and local fishers like “Digoy” Paden to protect seahorses and the livelihood of local fishing families. Through their efforts the Handumon Marine Protected Area is now a model “underwater park” where marine life is safe from fishing.
I’m a lifelong monster fiend. I love horror and sci-fi, and I especially love stories that really dig into characters and how they smash into each other. My favorite scary books (and movies, etc.) are funny, and my favorite funny books are kinda scary. It can be super healing and empowering to read books about terrible things that are handled with a heaping scoop of empathy and humor and absurdity.
Epic sci-fi with a cast of Earth-protecting animals.
Star Beasts is told through the POV of Bandit, the newest captain on the team, so we get to learn the ropes along with him (perfect way to tell a story, eh?). It’s as rad as it is cute. Alien animals!
Ancient relic collecting! Stinky lemurs! And if you’re anything like me, you will absolutely geek out when you see the Novataur.
I first read this book in self-pubbed form when I met the creators at WonderCon a few years ago. Nicest people on earth, coolest vision for their work, hilarious merch.
Also, Allyson is a fellow gardener, which is maybe not important to mention here, but it makes me happy.
Wanna know the real reason Pluto isn't a planet anymore?
Bandit is a pup on Earth who leaves his family to join the secret order of the Star Beasts - cosmic creatures sworn to protect Earth and spread goodness throughout the universe. Only thing is, he's having trouble fitting in. But when powerful relics are suddenly stolen, the Star Beasts must band together to find the deadly galactic fossils before Pluto's evil emperor, Khaos Krill - he wants to build the Novataur, an ancient monster that could wipe out all of Earth's species!
I’ve travelled to the Pantanal and along the Amazon both ways from Brazil and Colombia while I was teaching English in Brazil and will never forget the destruction of the Amazon. A visit to the gaping hole of Serra Pelada, a gold mine, had a lasting effect on me as did the forest fires and scorched earth, devoid of any bird or animal apart from the skinny cattle grazing amongst the blackened trees, stretching for miles. A run-in with a hyacinth macaw egg thief, who was smuggling the beautiful birds into Europe, spurred my interest in writing a children’s series which touches on conservation, endangered species, and illegal wildlife trafficking.
This beautifully illustrated picture book is dedicated to 15 endangered animals out of the 41,000 species on the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and explains why they’re in danger and what we can do. It features the most hunted and trafficked creature on the planet, the pangolin whose scales are made of keratin – the same as our nails – but are boiled to make pointless ‘medicines’ with zero effectiveness. Other creatures are the long-nosed crocodile, the peacock tarantula, and the snow leopard. With 60 percent of species being wiped out since the 1970s, perhaps it’s time for radical thinking. Should animals like tigers and cheetahs start charging companies for their images, spots, and stripes to raise money to protect what remains of their environments?
An interactive look at endangered animals imploring readers to discover fifteen species facing extinction.
Inspired and endorsed by the "Red List" database of animals in peril maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this brightly illustrated book introduces species from six different habitats on six continents. Blending approachable text, secondary facts and lush art, Red Alert! offers full portraits of animals such as the Chinese giant salamander, the snow leopard, the blue whale, and the giant panda, and provides young activists additional resources for how they can help save these beautiful creatures.
I've had a life-long passion for birds and African wildlife that developed from a very early age, spending countless hours on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. At various times I've had a totally compulsive obsession for birds and have chased rare and endangered birds around the planet for my long-standing TV series Nikon’s Birding Adventures TV. My love for elephants is equally as strong and I produced an award-winning conservation film in 2018 entitled Last of the Big Tuskers that features the plight of the world’s last remaining 20 or so super-tusker elephants. I'm a conservation fanatic and love exploring the links between local people and wildlife.
This is one of the most comprehensive books on African elephants I have ever read. It covers a huge variety of topics and is a compilation of stories and studies from a collection of authors, conservationists, and scientists. I particularly like the mixture of personal stories and scientific information. An absolute “must-read” for anyone with a deep interest in elephants and a desire to get involved in their conservation.
The Africa-wide Great Elephant Census of 2016 produced shocking findings: a decimated elephant population whose numbers were continuing to plummet. Elephants are killed, on average, every 15-20 minutes - a situation that will see the final demise of these intelligent, extraordinary animals in less than three decades. They are a species in crisis.
This magnificent book offers chapters written by the most prominent people in the realm of conservation and wildlife, among them researchers, conservationists, filmmakers, criminologists, TV personalities and journalists.
Photographs have been selected from among the world's best wildlife photographers, and the passionate Foreword is provided by Prince…
I am a life-long equestrian. I believe I was born with manure in my blood! I have always loved horses. I bought my own horse with my own money when I was thirteen and had to work to support him myself. I continue to own and ride horses more than fifty years later! I love competing in Dressage and riding the trails in the beautiful Colorado mountains. My interest in researching and writing historical horse stories grew out of my love of both horses and history.
Some books stay with you for a lifetime. Such is the case with Black Beauty for me.
This historical fiction novel (although it wasn’t “Historical” when it was written!”) is considered a classic because of its staying power and message. Anna Sewell’s work inspired the creation of the ASPCA because of the depictions of animal cruelty in the book.
Now, half a century later, it has inspired me to not only write historical fiction horse stories but I also chose to write in first person from the horse’s point of view the way Black Beauty is written.
Continuously in print and translated into multiple languages since it was first published, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty is a classic work of children's literature and an important text in the fields of Victorian studies and animal studies. Writing to ""induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment"", Sewell realistically documents the working conditions of Black Beauty, who moves down the social scale from a rural carriage horse to a delivery horse in London. Sewell makes visible and tangible the experience of animals who were often treated as if they were machines. Though she died shortly after it was published, Sewell's book…
I’m a conservation and taxidermy historian who writes about wildlife economics specifically for people new to the subject. I live in Brooklyn, travel constantly, love museums, and collect too many things (my grandmother owned an antique shop which kicked off my love of history.) My love for animals, history, and the outdoors created a bizarre career path that I have followed like an excited scent hound from the outdoor industry, butchery, museum sphere to conservation education and wildlife economics. I’m either in the woods, a Japanese restaurant, or on the road giving lectures about anything from the history of taxidermy to effective conservation structures in southern Africa.
Emma Marris is a phenomenal writer; her nature writing has been compared to that of Aldo Leopold and Rachael Carson.
Wild Souls focuses on how people relate to other animals. That might sound like a philosophical topic but it has real world consequences. Her stories will force you to question your own motives and morals when asked to compare one animal to another or define what “nature” even is anymore.
Full of entertaining stories and nutritious food for thought.
Winner of the 2022 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award * Winner of the 2022 Science in Society Journalism Award (Books) * Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
“Thoughtful, insightful, and wise, Wild Souls is a landmark work.”--Ed Yong, author of An Immense World
"Fascinating . . . hands-on philosophy, put to test in the real world . . . Marris believes that our idea of wildness--our obsession with purity--is misguided. No animal remains untouched by human hands . . . the science isn’t the hard part. The real challenge is the ethics, the act of imagining our appropriate…
Ever since childhood, I have been fascinated by African wildlife. When I worked in Africa as a journalist, I always found ways to view wildlife and to meet those who lived alongside dangerous and charismatic animals and those who conserved them. When I moved into academia, I started researching human-wildlife relations in detail, examining sustainable conservation approaches and how to control the illegal wildlife trade. It is a passion, almost an obsession, and as I finish researching and writing one book, another is already fixed in my brain.
Rosaleen Duffy, who ran the BIOSEC project at the University of Sheffield, established and funded it “to explore whether concerns about biodiversity protection and global security are becoming integrated” and has spent years examining the increasing militarisation of conservation globally.
Her work has been a great source of inspiration for me as I have delved into these complex issues. In this important and excellent book, Duffy skillfully expounded and analyzed the topic's core. Duffy discovered many private military companies involved directly in anti-poaching and indirectly in training.
These include Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife (VETPAW), Veterans4Wildlife, Chengeta Wildlife, International Anti Poaching Foundation (IAPF), Ecological Defense Group, Inc (EDGE), and Maisha Consulting.
Militarisation and military training are controversial subjects in conservation, with over-militarisation leading to human rights abuses and the feeling among local communities that anti-poaching units are armies of occupation. Duffy examines this in great detail and, for me,…
An exploration of the scale, practical reality, and future implications of the growing integration of biodiversity conservation with global security concerns
"Offers a thorough overview of an aspect of conservation that has become increasingly important but often unfortunately fails to make the nightly news."-Well-Read Naturalist
Debates regarding environmental security risks have generally focused on climate change and geopolitical water conflicts. Biodiversity conservation, however, is increasingly identified as a critical contributor to national and global security. The illegal wildlife trade is often articulated as a driver of biodiversity losses, and as a source of finance for organized crime networks, armed groups,…
I write picture books about nature to inspire curiosity and care for our planet. I have been writing about wildlife conservation and particularly endangered species since studying ecology, campaigning with Greenpeace, and working with the Natural History Museum in London. Now as a full-time author, I have an extraordinary opportunity to learn through experience and in conversation with scientists, teachers, and children about how best to tell this ever more urgent, evolving story. The statement "Ecology? Look it up! You’re involved" writ large in 1969 by the first Greenpeace campaigners on billboards around Vancouver, still says it all for me.
Michelle Nijhuis tells the history of conservation over the last three hundred years with compelling narrative and fascinating detail. She shines a new light on the context and stories of familiar as well as lesser-known, pioneering conservationists. I loved it and learnt so much.
Beloved Beasts explores different perspectives of an increasingly desperate human story. Cutting to the underlying narrative… "people are still killing too many animals and destroying too much habitat" Nijui urges that as our societies become ever more connected, perhaps there is hope that we humans can sort ourselves (and our planet…) out. Let’s hope so.
In the late nineteenth century, humans came at long last to a devastating realisation: their rapidly industrialising and globalising societies were driving scores of animal species to extinction. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the movement to protect and conserve other forms of life. From early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today's global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Nijhuis's "spirited and engaging" account documents "the changes of heart that changed history" (Dan Cryer, Boston Globe).
Much of what Deb knows about writing, nature, and life she learned in Alaska, where she also mastered the art of hauling water and cooking ptarmigan. She loves characters who tug at the heart and stories that grab you from the opening line and never let go. Deb is the co-founder of Alaska’s 49 Writers, and she has been invited to join the faculty at several writers’ conferences. After 36 years in Alaska, she now lives on Oregon’s north coast, where you’ll find her strolling the beaches and forests with her husband and boxer dog.
While researching my most recent bookI wanted to explore the various ways people have interacted with wildlife throughout history. Mooellam’s book proved exactly what I was looking for. Fun and readable, it was a pleasant counterbalance to some of the hefty tomes I consulted, and yet it left me with much to think about.
"Intelligent and highly nuanced... This book may bring tears to your eyes." -- San Francisco Chronicle
Journalist Jon Mooallem has watched his little daughter's world overflow with animals butterfly pajamas, appliqued owls-while the actual world she's inheriting slides into a great storm of extinction. Half of all species could disappear by the end of the century, and scientists now concede that most of America's endangered animals will survive only if conservationists keep rigging the world around them in their favor. So Mooallem ventures into the field, often taking his daughter with him, to move beyond childlike fascination and make those…
