For Immediate Release August 28, 1998
Contact: Pamela Clapp, 508-289-7276, [email protected]
Marine Biological Laboratory Hosts Institute for Children's Book Authors and Illustrators, October 9-11, 1998
Organizers hope to foster new collaborations between authors, illustrators, and biologists
Woods Hole, MA-The Marine Biological Laboratory's Science Writing Fellowships Program and the Center for Children's Environmental Literature is co-sponsoring an Author, Illustrator, Biologist Institute during the weekend of October 9th in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The meeting is also funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Harcourt Brace & Company. Working and aspiring children's book authors and illustrators, as well as scientists, are invited to participate in the three-day meeting.
Goals of the Institute
The A * I * B Institute is designed to bring many of the world's most prominent children's book authors and illustrators together with eminent scientists to inspire the creation of important new children's books that focus on the biological and environmental sciences.
The objectives of the A * I * B Institute are:
* to inspire ideas for future children's books that are scientifically accurate for classroom use
* to spur the creation of new children's books that make biological and environmental science accessible to young minds
* to give authors and illustrators the opportunity to hear about science directly from scientists
* to introduce authors to issues about which few or no children's books have been written
* to foster collaborations between authors and scientists
* to help the scientific community reach the general public and make science accessible
Program
The Institute will include sessions on the how-tos of developing a children's book from start to finish; creating better children's books through collaborations with scientists; and what publishers look for in a children's book. Renowned children's book authors and illustrators Lynne Cherry (The Great Kaypok Tree), Ann McGovern (The Desert Beneath the Sea), Debra Fraiser (Out of the Ocean), and Molly Bang (Chattanooga Sludge) are all participating in the program.
Workshops on oceanography, microscopy, marine life and behavior, and ecosystems ecology and research will also be offered by scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the University of the Pacific, the Boston University Marine Program, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
Keynote speakers include Gerald F. Wheeler, Executive Director of the National Science Teacher's Association; Mark Plotkin, Director of the Ethnobotany and Conservation Team and co-author with Lynne Cherry of The Shaman's Apprentice, and Jerry Melillo, Co-Director of the MBL's Ecosystems Center and former Associate Director for Environment at the Office of Science Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the White House.
For a complete program, visit our website at
http://www.mbl.edu/html/MISC/AIB.html.
About CCEL
The Center for Children's Environmental Literature (CCEL) is a non-profit organization committed to connecting children to the natural world through literature and education. CCEL was established in 1992 by Lynne Cherry and other world-renowned authors and illustrators of children's books. CCEL authors and illustrators know first-hand how personal experiences with nature can change how people-especially children-view the natural world and how these experiences can induce them to make environmentally conscious lifestyle choices. Environmental literature can inspire children to explore, understand, and conserve the natural world.
About the MBL
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is the oldest private marine laboratory in North America. Founded as a non-profit institution in 1888, the Laboratory is devoted to research and education in basic biology and environmental science. More than 35 Nobel laureates have spent a season or more at the MBL as students, faculty, investigators, or library readers. Lewis Thomas, author of Lives of a Cell, called the MBL "the uniquely national center for biology in this country." Today, scientists and students from around the world come to the MBL to conduct basic biological, biomedical, and environmental research. They teach, study, and collaborate with other scientists, often using the diverse and abundant organisms found in surrounding waters as model systems in their research.
Registration and Housing
The Institute is open to all authors, illustrators, and scientists who are interested in participating. Registration fees are $50 for members of CCEL and $82 for non-members (which includes a one-year membership to CCEL and a subscription to its quarterly newsletter Nature's Choice). Housing and meals are available at the Marine Biological Laboratory's Swope Conference Center for a fee. For more information about the Institute, contact Pamela Clapp, Coordinator, (508) 289-7276, [email protected].
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