Nonfiction Monday: Project Seahorse

Project Seahorse Pamela S. Turner, photographs by Scott Tuascon

Once again, the Scientists in the Field series hits it out of the park.

Project Seahorse is a program that helps set up Marine Protected Areas off the coast of the Philippines. Seahorses are in trouble because there is a great demand for them-- dried seahorses are an important ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and are also used for curios and knick-knacks. Live seahorses are very popular to use in aquariums, even though they are extremely hard to keep alive in captivity.

In addition to learning a lot about seahorses and coral reefs, Turner also shows why Project Seahorse is so successful as an organization.

The reason Project Seahorse works is because they work very closely with the communities who depend on the reefs for their livelihoods. By working closely with all of the players, they create very important buy-in, so everyone's on board with the project. One thing Project Seahorse works for isn't a complete ban on the seahorse trade, but a more sustainable one. Not only do they work with the fisherman, but also aquariums and Chinese medicine practitioners.

They also take a very interdisciplinary approach their conservation efforts. In addition to observing reef recovery by diving and counting and observing, the scientists also interview the fisherman to see if/how their catches are improving and work closely with them, not just for data, but so that they continue to support the project.

They hope that not only with the reef recover (and it's very much starting to) in the protected areas, but as it recovers, it spills out of the protected boundaries, bringing recovery to the unprotected areas as well (and the fisherman hope so, too.)

Also, the pictures are just FANTASTIC. Seahorses are weird little creatures and there are lots of cool pictures of them, but also of the other fish and life along the reef. Stunning. (My favorite was in the very back, of the weedy seadragon.)

As always, there is also a list for further reading, watching, and researching, as well as tips kids can do right now to help.

Another great book to show why this series is so awesome.

Round up is over at Write About Now. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... my local library

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Nonfiction Monday

Didja see that the Cybil winners were announced yesterday?

Well, I have two biographies today that were Cybil nominees, the first one written by the same author of the winner!

A Life in the Wild: George Schaller's Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts Pamela S. Turner

This biography of George Schaller follows him from his early interest in animal, to his university days in Alaska, and his research trips around the world-- studying gorillas in what was then the Belgian Congo, tigers in India, lions on the Serengeti, snow leopards in the Himalayas, pandas in China, and the ecosystem of the Tibetan Plateau.

As Schaller's career started in 1959, the book shows how he revolutionized how we observe animals in the wild (such as, by quietly observing them and not killing them.) The photographs are all from Schaller's personal collection, so we get a good look at how things looked then. I (obviously) found the chapters on China and Tibet most interesting and wanted a deeper look at all the politics at play, because there were hints at things that I recognized instantly as Chinese face-saving and Chinese politics, but as that wasn't the point or focus of the book, it didn't get into it.

It's an interesting book for middle grade readers who want to learn about conservation of several different animals and how our ideas on how best of learn about and save animals has changed over time. I especially recommend pairing The chapter about tracking snow leopards in the Himalayas in 1969-1975 with Sy Montgomery's Saving the Ghost of the Mountain, about tracking snow leopards in Mongolia.

Book Provided by... my local library

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum Candace Fleming

Did you know that PT Barnum got into the circus game very late in life? He was 60 before he got involved, and then it was because a business partner wanted the fame that Barnum's name would give to the venture (also, Barnum's cash). Who knew?

Well, if you read this delightful, informative, and fascinating biography, filled with informational sidebars and pictures and other ephemera, you will. Seriously, the entire week after I read it, I was telling everyone I came across random facts about Barnum. I annoyed everyone I knew! And people I didn't.

I highly recommend it. It's one of the books that just missed my personal Cybils shortlist. My only complaint is that Fleming relies heavily on Barnum's own autobiographies and there were a few things that made me pause and when I checked the source, it was Barnum's own version of his life, which isn't exactly the most objective point of view.

Book Provided by... my local library

Round up is by Amy over at The Art of Irreverence. Check it out!

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Nonfiction Monday

Two Announcements:

Don't forget to give me all your challenge info for The Reading Challenge Clearinghouse.

Last Tuesday, I ordered a bunch of Diary of a Chav books from The Book Depository. Two of them arrived today! I bet the rest will come tomorrow! (Each book was shipped separately.) Not bad for free international shipping! (Seriously, not affiliated at all, except that I love them because of their awesomeness.)

And now, for your Monday non-fiction-y goodness:

The Frog Scientist Pamela S. Turner

Ok, I'm putting the full disclaimer information up on top for this one, because it may look a little suspect. Usually, I don't review books that are under 100 pages on this blog, just because I have to draw the line SOMEWHERE (just like I don't review audio books here, I have to get some semblance of control.) However, I occasionally make an exception if there is a book that I want to talk about or if the content level is bigger than the 100-page length.

I went back and forth a little bit when Turner offered me this book to review (so, to spell that out, this copy was provided by the publisher) because I knew it was under 100 pages. BUT! I also knew that the Scientists in the Field series was awesome and a great series to give to kids. (I mean, the cover alone on The Bug Scientists will sell it.) So, I decided to review it. I just wanted to let you know what was going on up front.

This story follows an experiment in Dr. Tyrone Hayes's lab at UC Berkeley, where he's studying the link between the pesticide atrazine and the femalization of male leopard frogs. Along the way, we get Dr. Hayes's life story (with some awesome pictures from his college days at Harvard in the 80s--seriously awesome New Wave hair) we meet his family and the students working in his lab and why they're interested. Many are interested in biology and science and want to continue working in the field, but one was the child of migrant workers and was more interested in how the pesticide effects people who breathe it in everyday while working in the fields.

The book focused a lot on pesticide risks to frogs, because that's where Hayes's research is, but did talk about other things effecting frogs and other variables in the puzzle, and it also talked about why we should care.

Lots of big pictures of frogs (and frog dissection) as well as daily lab life illustrate the text and make it an easy hand-sell. I really liked the fact that the lab was full of women and people of color doing science, but I kinda wondered where the guys were. I also liked how the reader gets to see how lab science really works (let's do this experiment over and over again to make sure our results are consistent! Now! To wash the test tubes!)

I like this entire series and this is a good addition.

Round-up is at MotherReader!