Scientist • Writer • Teacher
© Loree Griffin Burns
I woke early this morning, hoping for some quiet time at my desk before the busyness of our Sunday began. But a few, dusty inches of first snow fell last night, and with a tiny bit of prodding from my boys (who also wake early), I opted for the quiet outside instead. Is there anything as lovely as first snow before sunrise? The feeling brought to mind the poem Why I Wake Early, by Mary Oliver. Do you know it?
Happy Sunday!
Photo courtesy Monarchs In Space
So, back in early November I got an email about a neat opportunity for citizen scientists to participate in a project sponsored by MonarchWatch, the folks who run the monarch tagging programs I’ve written about here and in my upcoming citizen science book. The new project was called Monarchs In Space. Of course, in early November I was trying to meet a book deadline and my only response to the email was:
I CANNOT POSSIBLY MAKE TIME FOR MONARCHS IN SPACE THIS MONTH!
A few weeks later, the book is written and I’m sitting at my desk watching actual monarch butterflies emerge in actual outer space, and I have to take a moment to say to myself:
DUDE, ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU SHOULD ALWAYS MAKE TIME FOR MONARCHS IN SPACE!
Anyway, here’s the abridged version of what has been going on with the Monarchs in Space program:
*Scientists have sent three monarch caterpillars to the International Space Station, where they were allowed to grow and develop in a zero gravity environment. The rearing cages were monitored by video and the pictures coming back are stunning.
*All three caterpillars have molted, pupated, and as of last night, two of the three have emerged as adult butterflies. In space! Where there is no gravity!
*All along the way, the monarchs dealt with interesting issues resulting from the lack of gravity. For example, you can’t hang in a J form when there is no gravity. In fact, you can’t really ‘hang’ at all. The space caterpillars adopted a C form, heretofore undescribed, and somehow managed to undergo metamorphosis anyway. Also? Two of the pupae didn’t stay attached to the silk pad the caterpillar spun as an anchor … and so they floated around the rearing cage for the entire 10 days of the metamorphosis!
You can learn absolutely everything you might want to know about this project at the Monarchs in Space website. Pictures are added daily, and videos more randomly. Because the folks at MonarchWatch are some of the coolest scientists on (or off!) the planet, a huge emphasis has been placed on giving kids and their adults a front row seat to these experiments. Hundreds of schools across the country have been rearing control caterpillars on the same timeline as the space caterpillars … you can read what the kids are finding at the website, too.
That right there is a picture of my citizen science book in manuscript form. This first draft (it’s actually my third draft, but the first that feels good enough to meet its editor) logged in at 69 pages, 14,392 words, and 101 images. This was definitely the most challenging of the three books I have written. It took me a long time to figure out the best way to tell this story, and I feel as if I dove much deeper (from a craft point of view) than I have before. It was an excellent and SCARY dive, I must say, and although I am pleased with the results, I am glad to have a few weeks to sit back and catch my breath.
How will I catch my breath? Well, I’ve got a book launch to plan, a picture book to noodle with, and a whole lot of lost blogging time to make up for. And a research trip to think about. Oh, yes, and holidays to celebrate.
Happy December!
ps. The post title is what I am calling the citizen science book these days: BUGS, BIRDS, FROGS, AND YOU: A YEAR OF CITIZEN SCIENCE. Any thoughts on this? I’d love to hear them.
Wonderful news! Phillip Hoose has won the National Book Award in the Young People’s Literature category. I am a fan of his THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD-GOD BIRD and am anxious to get my hands on this latest masterpiece, CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE. Congratulations, Mr. Hoose!
Another writer of nonfiction whose work I admire, Sy Montgomery, was interviewed by Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray this week. Sy shares her thoughts on working with Nic Bishop, launching the Scientists in the Field series, and the emotional side of science. The interview is broken into two parts, and you can read them here and here.
Enjoy!
I’ll be at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention in Philadelphia later in the week. I’m looking forward to catching up with old writer friends, and even to making some new ones. Will YOU be there? Here’s my schedule for the trip …
Friday, November 20
4:15pm-5pm
Convention Center, Room 107B, Street Level
Stories and Standards: Pairing Fiction and Nonfiction for Interdisciplinary Connections
Moderator: Teri Lesense
Author Panel: Kate Messner, Tanya Lee Stone, Jenny Moss and Loree Griffin Burns
Saturday, November 21
10am-11am
Convention Center, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Booth (#500)
I’ll be signing copies of TRACKING TRASH*
12:00pm-2:30pm
Books for Children Luncheon
Marriott Grand Ballroom, Salon A
I’m told I am hosting a table at this event. From what I can tell, this means that a dozen of the teachers who come to hear a keynote by the amazing Brian Selznick are going to be stuck with, er, me. But I plan to be very nice to them as we sit together and admire Mr. Selznick, and each will leave my table with a signed copy of TRACKING TRASH, compliments of Houghton Mifflin.
Hope to see you there!
*I’m not sure that F&Gs of THE HIVE DETECTIVES will be ready, but my amazingly talented photographer/partner-in-bookmaking, Ellen Harasimowicz, turned final color proofs of the book into a gorgeous preview, and I’ll be bringing that along. Do stop by and have a look if you are in the vicinity!
© Loree Griffin Burns
THE CITIZEN SCIENCE MANUSCRIPT IS DONE!
It is done and I am happy with it and it will soon be off my desk and onto the desk of my editor at Henry Holt. This means I am free to blog again … to read and write on other topics again … to traipse in the woods with my camera (see above) … to sleep in the middle of the day!
Okay, maybe not that.
But I am feeling lighter than I have in months. And not a moment too soon: I am leaving shortly for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual conference in Philadelphia. Details first thing tomorrow. In the meantime, anyone recognize the image above? I’m pretty sure it’s a vireo nest. My son spotted it after the leaves fell from the trees along our driveway. Isn’t it lovely? The shiny, silvery material woven along the outside may very well have been stolen from a paper wasp nest. Can you imagine? Here’s an inside shot:
© Loree Griffin Burns
Today at Chasing Ray, Colleen Mondor and the ‘What A Girl Wants’ panelists discuss mean girls in youth literature and in the world. Why are they so damned popular, anyway? The WAGW women, as usual, provide much to ponder in their thoughtful responses. Please check it out!
(Notice I did not participate in the discussion this month. See? It is not just my own blog that I am neglecting. It is everything outside the citizen science book. Seriously. But the deadline is creeping closer, the manuscript is nearly finished, and I hope to be back here more regularly soon.)
These windows peek into my office, where I worked all day yesterday on the ladybug chapter of my citizen science book:
© Loree Griffin Burns
Can you see what I saw? (You may have to click on the image to enlarge it.)
Ladybugs! Hundreds and hundreds of ladybugs. One of the scientists I interviewed for the book told me that this particular species, Asian Multi-colored ladybug (Harmonia axyridris), spends the winter tucked into tiny crevices in the face of enormous cliffs that are common where they evolved. Here in North America, they fly instead to the biggest vertical structures they can find, usually houses, and crawl around looking for a place to tuck in. That’s why so many of them end up in my bathroom every winter. And that’s why the back of my house was covered with them yesterday afternoon.
Judging by the clip on my local news station last night, this behavior annoys people. Obviously these people are not writing about ladybugs! Here’s a bonus photo, and here’s to inspiration arriving on your doorstep (or office window) today, too.
© Loree Griffin Burns
My kids and I surveyed ladybugs for the Lost Ladybug Project this summer, and what you see above is a sampling of the nine species we found. Finding and photographing them was fairly easy … figuring out which was which was not. We *think* these are, from top to bottom, the polished ladybug (Cycloneda polita), the checkerspot ladybug (Propylea quaturodecimpunctata), the three-banded ladybug (Coccinella trifasciata), the spotted pink ladybug (Coleomegilla maculata) and the Asian multi-colored ladybug (Harmonia axyridris). This last is the ladybug that so often invades homes this time of year, and it was by far the most common in our surveys (66 of our 100 specimens).
I am showing amazing restraint here … I could go on and on and on. And I could post photo after photo after photo. Ladybugs are interesting creatures and I am completely smitten. Lucky for you, I have to get myself–and our CD of ladybug data–to the post office.
Happy Friday to you and yours!
© Loree Griffin Burns
Did I really announce on my blog that I would finish the frog chapter over the weekend? What was I thinking? For the record, I didn’t even come close. How could I? There were hikes to take and vistas to admire and apples to pick and books to read and, yes, even chipmunks to photograph. I fiddled with the frog chapter here and there, but couldn’t call it finished until an hour ago. It’s now in the hands of trusted readers, and I’m left asking the same old question:
Why is it so hard to balance my personal life and my work life?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Feel free to step in here, because I got nothing in the way of an answer. Nothing. Well, I do have a poem (of sorts) to share. It was sent to me by a friend, and it helped me reframe the balance question. Karen Maezen Miller’s Parent’s Little List of Trust starts like this:
Trust accidents and coincidences; trust imperfection and the unforeseen.
Trust the milk to spill.
Trust confusion as the child of clarity; trust doubt as the mother of confidence.
The piece is subtitled Not So Little, Not Just For Parents, and you can read it in its entirety here.
Anyway, as I plunge into the next chapter, I am no longer asking for balance; I’m simply trusting that my perpetual lack of it is okay. Just to be safe, I’ll not make any predictions about finishing that chapter. It’ll be done when it’s done. Trust me.
