As a writer, you get to be in charge.  You decide a character’s name. What they look like. Are they liars? Do they swear a lot? Are they good or bad or somewhere in between? You get to decide what happens to those characters. You get to choose the words that make a story. This…

Last year, I overheard a conversation between my twelve-year-old son and his close male friends that alarmed me. They were talking about Tiktok challenges and how each of them had been pressured into doing something they knew was wrong by their peers. They liked the attention they got from doing these social media challenges, but…

My coming out began joyfully: I fell in love my sophomore year of college, it was springtime, and everything about it was warm and beautiful and thrilling. At long last I had what many of my straight peers had already begun, in some cases for many years: a relationship! But aside from the person I…

There’s an old cliché that says that the age of twelve is the best time to start reading science fiction. However, science fiction is too important to wait until 7th grade! This genre can teach science-fictional ways of thinking, a mindset that helps us process new technology and think critically about science. Thanks to that…

Toucan: members of the bird family Ramphastidae. Kingdom: | Animalia Phylum: | Chordata Class: | Aves Order: | Piciformes Family: | Ramphastidae The toucan family includes five extant genera and over 40 different species. Some of these birds have names like aracari or toucanet, but they all sport that large, comical bill. Size and Weight:…

Rock hyrax (Procavia capensis): a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. AKA: dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and coney. Kingdom: | Animalia Phylum: | Chordata Class: | Mammalia Order: | Hyracoidea Family: | Procavidae Genus: | Procavia Species: | capensis There are three members of the Procaviidae or hyrax family: the…

Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia): a big cat in the genus Panthera native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. Kingdom: | Animalia Phylum: | Chordata Class: | Mammalia Order: | Carnivora Family: | Felidae Genus: | Panthera Species: | uncia Size and Weight: Snow leopards are 39 to 51 inches in length, with…

This piece comes to us from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride month, Nature and WCS are sharing stories of nature and conservation from members of these communities.  John and California sea lion, Erie. Photo credit: Jennifer Rant/WCS. “The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have…

This piece comes to us from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride month, Nature and WCS are sharing stories of nature and conservation from members of these communities.  While many people dream of taking care of wild animals, there are few who choose to actually pursue it as a career. It’s…

This piece comes to us from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride month, Nature and WCS are sharing stories of nature and conservation from members of these communities.  As the Director of Learning Experiences for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoos and Aquarium, I have the unique experience of supporting the educational…