'Conservation Tales' book signing
WHERE: Twin Archer Brew Pub, 117 W. Charles St.
WHEN: Thursday, April 6 from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Copies of the book will be available for sale at the event.
Associate biology professor Tom McConnell and Ball State junior art major Sami Pfaff will host a meet and greet about their book "Conservation Tales: The Cerulean Warbler" tonight at the Twin Archer Brew Pub as part of Muncie's First Thursday.
The children's book, the first in a series, revolves around the cerulean warbler, a vulnerable songbird, while also looking at "how we study the animals and what can be done to help these beautiful animals," according to the series' website.
The idea for the series came about during spring break last year, when McConnell was looking through children's books about living things in the environment.
"It dawned on me [that] there's a lot of these things that are endangered, and the books never even mentioned that," McConnell said. "Because of the work I've been doing on some other book projects, I thought, 'You know, I think I could probably produce a book about a particular species and tell its story and talk about how conservation can be done at home.'"
The idea quickly turned into an actual project.
"When I started talking with some people in my department, mainly some graduate students who study cerulean warblers, they thought it sounded like a great idea," McConnell said.
McConnell took multiple trips to Brown County to observe researchers in the field for the book.
"It's really important to me that there's an accurate description of how researchers work in the field, and what the actual conservation issues are," he said. "One of the goals that I've got is to show kids that read the book that they're capable of becoming scientists."
McConnell also hoped the trips would add "a sense of realism" to the book.
"We've talked to a lot of people," he said. "So far, everybody has commented that the combination of drawings and paintings ... and photographs of the actual people doing the research combined to give the book a little bit more credibility."
While the book's primary focus is conservation, diversity also takes prominence within it, with a particular focus on women and minorities.
"Those are groups that, quite frankly, are underrepresented in the science field," McConnell said. "We're hoping that this might help serve to improve our diversity within the science community."
The project took just under a year from start to finish.
McConnell and his team are currently working on the second book in the series, which will focus on bats. As the series continues, the team continues to grow, and McConnell is now considering the possibility of an immersive learning course.
"I've got enough connections with people who do conservation work who have some interest in this [that] it could blossom into a much bigger project," he said.
Copies of the book will be available for sale at the event.
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