The Woods Scientist (Scientists in the Field)

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-Morse's childhood love of forests and animals led to a career as wildlife specialist and photographer, studying habitats and promoting conservation for some 30 years. Wolves, bears, moose, and lynx are among the animals featured in this introduction to her work. Swinburne's narrative sketches a bit of Morse's life story, follows her as she leads groups of adults and children on tracking expeditions, and explains behavior and habitat needs of some of the animals. The book is organized in four topical sections, and has shorter sidebar essays set on green to separate them from the main text and handsome full-color photographs of woods and mountains across the country. Children will be drawn to the various species introduced, and Swinburne and Morse offer many invitations for personal involvement in studying wildlife and assisting in conservation efforts. Concluding pages list simple activities and suggest topics for further investigation. A directory of organizations and a list for further reading are appended.Margaret Bush, Simmons College, BostonCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. Like others in the consistently excellent Scientists in the Field series, this beautifully illustrated title brings young readers close to the excitement of scientific discovery through the work of a passionate professional. Morse is a fourth-generation forester, a conservationist, a habitat ecologist, and a professional tracker. In lively chapters, Swinburne describes the hikes he takes with Morse in a vast protected forest near her home in Wolfrun, Vermont. The language is immediate, clear, and filled with moment-by-moment observations and well-presented facts about the wood's extensive wildlife, and there are plenty of fascinating, well-integrated quotes and statistics that put the need for increased conservation efforts into alarming focus: "We are losing species at a rate not seen since the dinosaurs disappeared." Readers will come away with a much more informed view of wildlife at risk, enriched by Morse's superb color photographs of lynx, bear, moose, and other species in their natural homes. Projects, further reading, and a glossary round out the book. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Readers will pick up a few hints about how to look for evidence of local wildlife but more important, they will come away with a much clearer sense of the importance of conservation."

Review
"Readers will pick up a few hints about how to look for evidence of local wildlife but more important, they will come away with a much clearer sense of the importance of conservation."

Book Description
Sue Morse is at home in the woods; she has read the woods ever since she could remember. She believes that by reading the forests she can help save them. So outside the door of her small cabin lies her laboratory: the rich and extensive forest and all of the creatures who live there. Revealing just how active and engaging science—and scientists—can be, this book also gives us a closer glimpse into the vulnerable homes of bear, lynx, deer, bobcat, and all the dwellers of the woods.

Card catalog description
A devoted nature lover and animal tracker, Sue Morse shares her knowledge and love of some of the creatures that inhabit America's woodlands.

About the Author
Stephen Swinburne is a writer, photographer, naturalist, and the author of several nonfiction books for children. He lives with his wife and two daughters in South Londonderry, Vermont.


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The newest entry in the usually exemplary Scientists in the Field series is more platform than profile. Rendering himself nearly invisible, the author allows wildlife conservation activist Sue Morse to lead a class into wintry New England woods. There, illustrated mostly with her own bright, sharp photos, she points out bear, deer, moose, and bobcat signs while explaining at length that wildlife needs not only more space than it's often allotted, but also corridors that allow it to move between protected areas. Like the young trackers-in-training who pose in the pictures, readers will pick up a few hints about how to look for evidence of local wildlife, but more important, they will come away with a much clearer sense of the importance of conservation. Plus they'll see the depth of one naturalist's dedication to it, as well as plenty of encouragement to get personally involved. They will not see much of Morse the research scientist, however, as she has little to say about her academic training or scientific research, and the organization she founded, Keeping Track, is oddly absent from the closing list of contact addresses. This series has done much to expand the horizons of young readers who think that science can only be done in laboratories, but here the difference between inquiry and advocacy is blurred. (index, glossary, paper and electronic resource lists) (Nonfiction. 9-11)


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