On Saturday, April 5, I had the pleasure of speaking at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts. My presentation was called “How Can I Help? Empowering Students with Citizen Science.” If you were there, thank you for coming! The handout I promised is at the link below.
And if you weren’t there, we missed you. You should feel free to have a look at the handout, too!
Ellen Harasimowicz and I are kicking off 2014 with the release of our latest collaboration: a picture book about some very special butterfly lives. Handle with Care is published by Millbrook Press and was officially released today. We hope you’ll love this story as much as we do.
© Loree Griffin Burns
The White Oak Land Conservation Society‘s Wildlife Saturdays programming this spring has been dubbed The Bears and the Bees. On March 19, Laura Hajduk, Black Bear Project Leader for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, talked about her work with black bears here in Massachusetts. And this week, I’ll be giving a family presentation on honeybees.
Yes, admission is free.
Yes, you can buy local Worcester county honey at the door.
Come one, come all!
Wildlife Saturdays: Honeybees
A Family Presentation by Loree Griffin Burns
Satuday, April 2, 2011 at 11 am
Holden Senior Center
1130 Main Street
Holden, MA
I’m heading to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) annual conference … in San Francisco, baby! I’m excited at the prospect of all those science teachers to mingle with and learn from. Sunshine and warmth? Total bonuses.
At the conference, I’ll join Professors Susannah Richards and Jeanelle Day, and my colleague Alexandra Siy, to talk about practicing science in childhood, in the field, in books, and in the classroom. Ours promises to be a lively and informative discussion; please join us if you are at the conference. Here are the details:
Buzzing About Science:
Behind the Scenes with Scientific Trade Books that Invite Inquiry
Thursday, March 10, 2011
3:30pm-4:30pm
Hilton San Francisco, Union Square
Golden Gate Room 8
© Ellen Harasimowicz
Researching THE HIVE DETECTIVES was a project that relied heavily on the kindness of beekeepers in central Massachusetts, where I live. Members of the Worcester County Beekeepers Association welcomed me to years of meetings and events, exposing me to the endless passion of beekeepers and, of course, the endless allure of honey bees. Mary Duane, WCBA president, even let me suit up and explore her hives with my own gloved hands. (That’s us together in the photo above. I’m the one taking notes, she’s the one working the bees!)
If you’ve read the book, you know Mary became an important part of the story I told … which is why it will be super fun to reunite with her on Sunday to talk about bees at MassAudubon. We’ll be speaking at the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary at 2pm, and there will be a book sale and signing following the presentation.
I hope you can join us …
Honeybees: Our Professional Pollinators
Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary
414 Massasoit Road
Worcester, MA
Sunday, September 19
2pm
Adult Fees: $6 Members, $8 Nonmembers
Children’s Fees: $3 Members, $4 Nonmembers
You can find more information at the MassAudubon website.
Milkweed blooming at Wachusett Meadow
© Loree Griffin Burns
I usually take the summer off, but not this year. I’ll be visiting a handful of public libraries to talk about my books, and also running a hands-on introduction to the Lost Ladybug Project at my local Audubon sanctuary. The library events are free and open to the public, and I’ve included a description of the Audubon event, including the associated fees. I hope some of you can join us!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
6:30 pm
Richards Memorial Library
44 Richards Avenue
Paxton, MA
Thursday, July 8, 2010
10:15 am
Conant Public Library
4 Meetinghouse Hill Road
Sterling, MA
Saturday, July 17, 2010
10:00am-12 noon
Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary
113 Goodnow Road
Princeton, MA
Program Fees:
Adults: $6.00 Members, $8.00 Nonmembers
Children: $3.00 Members, $4 Nonmembers
Program Descrption:
Scientists at The Lost Ladybug Project are searching for rare native ladybug species, and you can help find them. Spend a few hours brushing up on ladybug biology, learning to identify common and rare species, and documenting ladybugs at Wachusett Meadow … then go home and survey the ladybugs living in your backyard. Bring sharp eyes and a digital camera, if you have one.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
7:00 pm
Groton Public Library
99 Main Street
Groton, MA
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
7:00 pm
Melrose Public Library
69 West Emerson Street
Melrose, MA
Oh, my, how I loved this darn inchworm. (Perhaps this was the beginning of my fascination with insects?) I came across this photo while searching for pictures of me when my name was still Loree Ann.
Why was I looking for such pictures?
Because my blippety-blurb has just gone live on the TeachingBooks.Net Author Pronunciation Guide website. That’s right, when kids are online trying to find out how to pronounce Jon Scieszka, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and Deborah Heiligman … they can now find, um, me. (This cracks me up.)
So, if you’ve always wondered how to pronounce my name, or if you’re wondering what happened to the “Ann” bit, or if you’d just like to giggle at my formal recording voice (do I really sound like that?), surf on over and give a listen!
Rosy Maple Moth
© Loree Griffin Burns
I have a few public appearances this month that I wanted to mention here. Actually, I meant to mention them a week ago, since the first event is tonight. I’m sorry! But if you live near Harvard, Massachusetts or Manchester, Vermont, and are inclined to listen to me babble about bees, please feel free to stop in …
Thursday, June 3 at 6:30pm
Harvard Public Library
4 Pond Road
Harvard, MA
Please join Harvard resident Ellen Harasimowicz and Loree Griffin Burns as they share their new children’s book, The Hive Detectives: Chronicles of a Honey Bee Catastrophe. Loree is also the author of Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. Loree and Ellen will talk about the bee adventures they experienced while creating the book, show some images from the book, answer questions, and conclude with a book signing.
Sunday, June 6 at 1pm
Hildene – The Lincoln Family Home
1000 Hildene Road
Manchester, Vermont 05254
Author and scientist, Loree Griffin Burns (The Hive Detectives) will lead an interactive program appropriate for ages 8 to adult in the Welcome Center Beckwith Room. It will end at the observation hive and will be followed by a booksigning. Registration is strongly recommended. $3 per person. Members are Free.
The softcover edition of TRACKING TRASH is officially released today!
Yes, it took three years. But let’s focus on the positive, shall we? You can finally buy a copy of my first book for under ten bucks! This will please my thrifty friends (I’m looking at you, John McD; go get those kids a copy now, will you?), and will help schools and libraries who want to use the book in a large group setting.
In celebration, I’m going to give away FOUR copies of the softcover edition here, right now, today. Simply post a comment below, either on LiveJournal or on Facebook, before midnight EST tonight*. I will draw four winners at random from all the entrants and mail signed copies out by the end of the week. And if you already own a copy, then send some of your friends over here, would you? Pretty please? It would totally stink to have less than four entrants.
(Although if that happens, John, I’ll send all four copies to you. Ha!)
* Fine print: Entrants must live in the continental United States and be over eighteen years of age. I will contact winners by whatever means of contact are provided in the comment in order to get a mailing address; anonymous commenters, please keep in mind that I will have no way to reach you if you don’t leave me some clue as to who you are!
© Ellen Harasimowicz
In 1891, a man named Henry L. Warner bequeathed $10,000 to his hometown, Harvard, Massachusetts. His hope was that the funds be used to initiate an educational lecture series to keep residents informed of happenings in “scientific, literary, biographical, historic, patriotic, national, educational and moral” spheres. Tomorrow night, Ellen and I will be at the Harvard Public Library to give our very first presentation on THE HIVE DETECTIVES as part of the free lecture series established in Warner’s name. If you live in the area, we’d love to see you there!
To Bee or Not to Bee
A Warner Free Lecture
Friday, March 12, 8pm
Harvard Public Library
4 Pond Road
Harvard, MA
978-456-4114
Why on earth have I illustrated this post with a photo of my cell phone in a bee hive? Well, that photo is in THE HIVE DETECTIVES. (You’ll have to read the book to see why.) And also because I will have that very phone on the podium with me tomorrow night in Harvard, set to vibrate of course, in order that my friend Kris can reach me and let me know if the temperatures after dark stay warm enough to launch Big Night.
What’s Big Night?
Well, around these parts, Big Night is usually the first warm and rainy night of the season. These sure signs of spring can induce hundreds and hundreds of spotted salamanders (and other amphibians) to migrate to their seasonal breeding pools. It is going to pour tomorrow night, and if temperatures stay warm enough, the salamanders will move. In other words, if that phone on the podium starts to vibrate, then yours truly will be doing some late-night salamander watching after the lecture!
* The quote above is from Henry S. Nourse’s HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HARVARD MASSACHUSETTS, 1732-1893.
** My friend Sarah Lamstein has a brand new book on the salamander migration. You can learn more about BIG NIGHT (the book!) at Sarah’s website.
Edited to Add: The fabulous Jeannine Atkins posted a review of BIG NIGHT, by Sarah Lamstein, right here. Enjoy!
Edited Further to Add: Sarah Lamstein tells me that all things Big Night are monitored over at the Vernal Pool Association website. Check it out!
