ABOUT CHRISTINE
My first taste of writing came at age eleven, when Road Rider magazine published my review of a children's book called Mouse Margaret, by Rimsky Jones. It was a fitting first vocation. I was the child who was so immersed in books that she read while walking home from school—the one who came into the school library twice a week for a new stack of books, which the librarian had already picked out in anticipation. I lived and loved the characters like members of my family—a habit I haven't quite outgrown.
The landscape of my childhood was another powerful influence on my developing awareness of the world. I grew up in the small California coastal town of Laguna Beach. I went to sleep each night to the sound of booming waves, and can hear them still in my memory. Weather permitting, we walked and played on the beach every day of the year. I told my parents long, convoluted tales as we watched for whales spouting offshore, or while rock-hopping at low tide in search of shells, sea stars, and other tidepool creatures.
Narrative and nature remained powerful influences into my adulthood. The challenge I faced was how to mesh them in a career. Eventually I chose to study biology, specializing in the behavioral ecology of bats. An unexpected event laid the groundwork for a shift in my focus from fieldwork to education. After completing a survey of bats at an historic ranch north of San Francisco, my advisor suggested that I speak to the community about my work and results. At that first program, as I caught bats and explained their vital role in the ecosystem, I began to see myself as a naturalist.
Gradually, I recognized that public education plays a crucial role in the cycle of scientific research. I decided to shift from field research to formal education, teaching science and media at an independent middle school in Minnesota. My students, colleagues and I used inquiry, citizen science, and project-based learning to explore questions about the natural and physical worlds. Along the way I revisited another interest from childhood. I began to write.
Since 2007 I have worked full-time as a freelance writer and environmental educator. To date I have published more than forty educational resource books for readers in grades 2-12 and written several feature magazine articles. Between book projects I post to a blog called "NatureLit," which profiles nature-themed children's literature.
The landscape of my childhood was another powerful influence on my developing awareness of the world. I grew up in the small California coastal town of Laguna Beach. I went to sleep each night to the sound of booming waves, and can hear them still in my memory. Weather permitting, we walked and played on the beach every day of the year. I told my parents long, convoluted tales as we watched for whales spouting offshore, or while rock-hopping at low tide in search of shells, sea stars, and other tidepool creatures.
Narrative and nature remained powerful influences into my adulthood. The challenge I faced was how to mesh them in a career. Eventually I chose to study biology, specializing in the behavioral ecology of bats. An unexpected event laid the groundwork for a shift in my focus from fieldwork to education. After completing a survey of bats at an historic ranch north of San Francisco, my advisor suggested that I speak to the community about my work and results. At that first program, as I caught bats and explained their vital role in the ecosystem, I began to see myself as a naturalist.
Gradually, I recognized that public education plays a crucial role in the cycle of scientific research. I decided to shift from field research to formal education, teaching science and media at an independent middle school in Minnesota. My students, colleagues and I used inquiry, citizen science, and project-based learning to explore questions about the natural and physical worlds. Along the way I revisited another interest from childhood. I began to write.
Since 2007 I have worked full-time as a freelance writer and environmental educator. To date I have published more than forty educational resource books for readers in grades 2-12 and written several feature magazine articles. Between book projects I post to a blog called "NatureLit," which profiles nature-themed children's literature.
Christine is a graduate of:
Hamline University, Department of Education: Center for Global Environmental Education
San Francisco State University, Department of Biology
San Francisco State University, Department of Biology
Christine is a member of the following professional organizations:
• Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
• The Authors Guild
• American Society of Journalists and Authors
• Minnesota Science Teachers Association
• Minnesota Association for Environmental Education
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