Join Author Jose Iselin and Illustrator El len Litwiller for a discussion of their book \;The M ysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest\, \;available March 1 7 from Heyday. Copies will be available for purchase at the event.
\n\nAbout The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest:
\nOffshore and out of sight to most beachgoers on the North Pacific coa st is a wondrous habitat: the bull kelp forest. Each year\, tiny bull kelp saplings explode into sixty-foot &ldquo\;redwoods\,&rdquo\; until winter storms tear them loose and fling great tangles of wrack on the shore. Whil e they flourish\, these underwater forests harbor abalone\, salmon\, and r ockfish\, and they entreat cormorants and murrelets to hunt among their th rumming canopies. Meanwhile\, fluffy-furred otters and pizza-sized sea sta rs gorge on spiny urchins who\, if left to run rampant\, will devour a kel p bed down to barren wasteland.
\nIn \;The Mysterious World of t he Bull Kelp Forest\, \;Josie Iselin profiles thirteen species&mdash\; with stylish illustrations from Ellen Litwiller&mdash\;to be our ambassado rs to this undersung world. She explores how their interspecies dramas pla y out in eight coastal regions\, from Alaska to central California\, explo ring instances of interdependent\, compromised\, and resilient coastal eco systems. An array of sea creatures feature in these pages\, as well as sho rebirds that connect land and sea. Land-dwelling humans are also deeply im plicated in this saga&mdash\;by turns beneficiaries\, agents of harm\, and stewards of these subtidal sanctuaries.
\n\nAbout Josie Isel in:
\nJosie Iselin \;is an artist\, author\, and designer who ha s been telling seaweed and kelp stories for over a decade. Her two books&n bsp\;An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed \;(2014\, 2023) and&n bsp\;The Curious World of Seaweed \;(2019) display her profound unders tanding of seaweed natural history and her deep connections within the sea weed science community. Iselin directs content development for the Above/B elow campaign and is the lead author of the campaign&rsquo\;s web story\, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp (bullkelp.info). \;She teaches in th e School of Design at San Francisco State University and lives in San Fran cisco. josieiselin.com
\nAb out Ellen Litwiller:
\nEllen Litwiller \;is a freelance illustra tor whose work brings art and science together in imaginative ways. She lo ves exploring how creativity and curiosity intersect\, using a variety of mediums to tell stories that are both visually striking and scientifically accurate. She began her career creating exhibits for natural history muse ums\, where she worked as a muralist\, illustrator\, model maker\, and pre parator. With years of hands-on experience in exhibition design and instal lation\, she developed a deep appreciation for detail and storytelling. Th rough collaboration with scientists\, she enjoys the shared curiosity that unite art and science&mdash\;both rooted in observation and appreciation of the world around us and the universe beyond.
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