Books in Scientists in the Field Series series

Sibert Honor winner Sy Montgomery explores how tiny fish living in the Amazon river, called piabas, can help preserve not only the rainforest and its often misunderstood inhabitants, but the fate of our entire environment. This installment in the Scientists in the Field series includes gorgeous full-color photography. “Montgomery thoroughly mines the social and economic effects the piabas have on locals alongside an in-depth exploration of the Amazon river and its ecosystems. The science and sociology are interesting and unusual, and the narrative itself enthralling.” —Booklist, starred review Considered the “lungs of the world,” the Amazon provides a full fifth of the world’s oxygen, and every year unsustainable human practices destroy 2.7 million acres of it. What can be done to help? That’s where Project Piaba comes in. Join the award-winning author Sy Montgomery and the photographer Keith Ellenbogen as they traverse the river and rainforest to discover how tiny fish, called piabas, can help preserve the Amazon, its animals, and the rich legacy of its people. Amazon Adventure is an eye-opening—and ultimately hopeful—exploration of how humanity’s practices are affecting and shaping not only the Amazon, but our entire environment.

* "A readable, informative and elegant book on an equally elegant feline."—School Library Journal, starred review Since 1900, the number of cheetahs has plummeted from more than 100,000 to fewer than 10,000. At the Cheetah Conservation Fund's (CCF) African headquarters in Namibia, Laurie Marker and her team work to save these stunning creatures from extinction. They've rescued more than 900 cheetahs, most of whom have been returned to the wild. Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop join CCF to study the cheetah's ecological, genetic, and behavioral patterns in order to save the fastest animal on land—before it is too late.

Dr. Greg Skomal, biologist and head of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, is investigating a controversial possibility: Might Cape Cod’s waters serve as a breeding ground for the great white shark, the largest and most feared predatory fish on Earth? Sy Montgomery and Keith Ellenbogen report on this thrilling turning point in marine research and travel to Guadeloupe, Mexico, to get up close and personal with the sharks. This daring expedition into the realm of great whites shows readers that in order to save the planet and its creatures, we must embrace our humanity and face our greatest fears.

Considered the “lungs of the world,” the Amazon provides a full fifth of the world’s oxygen, and every year unsustainable human practices destroy 2.7 million acres. What can be done to help? That’s where Project Piaba comes in. Join the award-winning author Sy Montgomery and the photographer Keith Ellenbogen as they traverse the river and rainforest to discover how tiny fish, called piabas, can help preserve the Amazon, its animals, and the rich legacy of its people. Amazon Adventure is an eye-opening—and ultimately hopeful—exploration of how humanity’s practices are affecting and shaping not only the Amazon, but our entire environment.

It is springtime in Alaska, and the U.S. Geological Survey team is gearing up for polar bear capturing. The scientists locate bears from a helicopter, tranquilize them, give them tattoo ID numbers and tags, and collect data such as height, weight, and body fat measurements and samples such as blood, hair, feces, and even teeth. For more than forty-five years, scientists have been capturing bears in order to get information. What has this information been telling scientists about polar bears and our changing global climate? Find out in this fascinating entry in the Scientists in the Field series!

Dr. Kimberly Stewart, also known as the Turtle Lady of St. Kitts, is already waiting at midnight when an 800-pound leatherback sea turtle crawls out of the Caribbean surf and onto the sandy beach. The mother turtle has a vital job to do: dig a nest in which she will lay eggs that will hatch into part of the next generation of leatherbacks. With only one in a thousand of the eggs for this critically endangered species resulting in an adult sea turtle, the odds are stacked against her and her offspring. Join the renowned author and photographer Steve Swinburne on a journey through history to learn how sea turtles came to be endangered, and what scientists like Kimberly are doing to save them. For the complete selection of books in this critically acclaimed, award-winning series, visit .

Dr. Ron Keiper and Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick have both, in their own unique way, made the wild horses of Assateague Island, Maryland their lives’ work. Experience Dr. Keiper's handwritten notes—taken over countless watchful hours in the field—which are both a diary and a scientific log that chart the lives of his equine subjects, some of nature's greatest survivors. And follow Dr. Kirkpatrick from the lab to the field as he works tirelessly to find a way to manage the horse population with a birth control vaccine, and helps keep the precarious balance of Assateague’s ecosystem intact.Descriptive prose meets solid science as author Kay Frydenborg offers a rare glimpse into the wild herds of Assateague, sharing beautiful photos of the Assateague herds in their island home and of both of the scientists at work—some of them never seen before.

With powerful and rare photographs by Jim Brandenburg, Once a Wolf explores the long, troubled relationship between humans and wolves. The book traces the persecution of the wolf throughout history and also reveals the role scientists have played in wolf preservation. The work of scientists can often seem mysterious and intimidating to the nonscientist. No longer! Introducing an exciting perspective on the important work of scientists in all areas of research and study. Scientists in the Field show people immersed in the unpredictable and dynamic natural world, making science more accessible, relevant, and exciting to young readers. Far from the research laboratory, these books show first-hand adventures in the great outdoors - adventures with a purpose. From climbing into a snake den with thousands of slithering snakes to tracking wolves, readers experience the thrill of discovering the unknown.

There are hidden worlds in nature—places you can visit only with a microscope. For more than twenty-five years, Dennis Kunkel has been exploring these worlds. Through the lenses of powerful microscopes, he has examined objects most people have never even thought about: a mosquito’s foot, a crystal of sugar, a grain of pollen, the delicate hairs on a blade of grass. Hidden Worlds takes you behind the scenes of Dennis’s work and explains how he captures his remarkable images of microscopic life and objects. You’ll learn how Dennis became interested in microscopes as a boy, how he prepares specimens for study, and how different kinds of microscopes work. You’ll also have the chance to follow Dennis as he collects in the field—from the ash-covered slopes of Mount St. Helens to the lava tubes, rainforests, and beaches of his home state of Hawaii.

With three hearts and blue blood, its gelatinous body unconstrained by jointed limbs or gravity, the octopus seems to be an alien, an inhabitant of another world. It’s baggy, boneless body sprouts eight arms covered with thousands of suckers—suckers that can taste as well as feel. The octopus also has the powers of a superhero: it can shape-shift, change color, squirt ink, pour itself through the tiniest of openings, or jet away through the sea faster than a swimmer can follow. But most intriguing of all, octopuses—classed as mollusks, like clams—are remarkably intelligent with quirky personalities. This book, an inquiry into the mind of an intelligent invertebrate, is also a foray into our own unexplored planet. These thinking, feeling creatures can help readers experience and understand our world (and perhaps even life itself) in a new way.

One of the world's experts on hammerhead sharks, marine biologist Pete Klimley is fighting the stereotype of sharks as primitive and vicious killers. In fact, hammerheads exhibit some remarkably sophisticated social behaviors, including their schooling in the hundreds at underwater seamounts in the Pacific Ocean. To tell the story of these incredible animals, author Ken Mallory talked with Pete Klimley and then traveled to tiny Cocos Island, 330 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. There, he had the chance of a lifetime to see these awe-inspiring animals up close.

In this addition to the critically-acclaimed Scientist in the Field series, scientist Robin Tanamachi and her team are trying to save countless lives across America’s heartland, chasing one tornado at a time. Robin Tanamachi has been captivated by tornadoes and extreme weather her entire life. When she realized people researched weather for a job, she was hooked. She now studies tornadogenesis, or how tornadoes form, and what causes them to get weaker versus strengthen. For her, driving around in a Doppler radar truck aiming towards storms is a normal day in the office. The data she collects is then modeled and studied on computers—with math, physics, and computer science working hand in hand with meteorology. At the end of the day, knowing exactly how, when, and where these violent storms happen can give more warning time for everyone involved.