There are 3 billion fewer birds in North America than a half century ago. Worldwide, almost 50% of bird species are in decline. The ones who remain are still trying to warn us of impending danger—we would be wise to listen before it’s too late, as these three authors detail in their new books that explore the beauty of these creatures; the impacts of climate change on different bird species; and what they can teach us about our own future on Earth. In Where the Earth Meets the Sky, conservation scientist Louise K. Blight chronicles her research on penguins surviving in the farthest reaches of Antarctica. Briony Penn’s The Seabird Trials traces a landmark oil spill court battle that resulted in the first settlement in North American history to compensate for the destruction of wild animals. Jackie Morris introduces a compendium of winged companions in The Book of Birds: an illustrated love letter to birdlife, and a clarion call to protect them, co-authored by Robert Macfarlane. Moderated by Laura Lynch.
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LOUISE K. BLIGHT is a conservation scientist with a PhD in zoology from the University of British Columbia. An adjunct professor at the University of Victoria’s School of Environmental Studies, she is also co-chair of the birds specialist group of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
LAURA LYNCH is a journalist and host who has won the prestigious Nieman fellowship from Harvard University, awards from the British Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association, and Amnesty International, among others. She is the host of What on Earth, a CBC Radio series covering climate change and climate solutions.
JACKIE MORRIS has written or illustrated over seventy books, including the beloved children’s classics Tell Me a Dragon, Wild Folk, and The House Without Windows. She is the internationally bestselling and award-winning co-creator of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, two books which have captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of readers of all ages.
BRIONY PENN is an award-winning writer, naturalist and environmental activist. Her books include Following the Good River, winner of the Victoria Butler Book Prize, and The Real Thing: The Natural History of Ian McTaggart Cowan, which won the BC Book Prize and the Hamilton Mack Laing Award for Environmental History.
