Welcome! Please browse my website to learn more about me and my books.





I write for kids and young adults, mostly about science and nature. I also have a strong interest in multicultural literature because I've lived in and worked in Kenya, South Africa, Japan, the Philippines, and the Marshall Islands.


Pursuing the stories I want to tell has sent me spider-catching in San Francisco, frog-hunting in Wyoming, tuna-tagging in North Carolina, seahorse-diving in the Philippines, and beer-bottle-searching in Death Valley (hey, it was a science experiment). I've huddled at the feet of a silverback mountain gorilla and watched in awe as a fifteen-foot white shark investigated our twelve-foot dinghy.


The people I meet inspire me, too. I've gotten to know George Schaller, the Zen master of field biology, and Tyrone Hayes, the rap master of frog research. I have the immense pleasure of turning my experiences into articles and books that I hope will make light bulbs go on in children's brains.


Right now I'm working on a new book, DOLPHINS OF SHARK BAY. It will be my fourth title in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's "Scientists in the Field" series. After you read it, you'll see bottlenose dolphins in a whole new light....I promise!

Books for Young Readers
We know dolphins are smart. But WHY are they smart? An exploration of intelligence coming your way in fall 2013.
Seahorses and people share a damaged Philippine coral reef...how can it be saved?
Why are frog populations dying? Follow biologist Tyrone Hayes as he uncovers how pesticide use turns some male frogs into bizarre half-male, half-female creatures.
The story of the world's greatest field biologist and his life among gorillas, tigers, lions, snow leopards, panda bears and more.
This book should carry a warning sticker: DOG LOVERS WILL NEED KLEENEX.
If you sneeze on a gorilla, it can catch your cold. Keeping gorillas safe from human diseases is just one of the challenges facing these dedicated wildlife vets.
Astrobiologist Chris McKay has one of the coolest jobs around: searching Earth for clues about how life might have formed on other planets.
One shark, one sea turtle, one tuna, two seabirds...and one very big ocean.