I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania, the second of four children. I have an older sister and two younger brothers.

My first house sat on the edge of town, next to a cow pasture. I remember playing in the cow pasture with my sister and running to the safety of our backyard when the cows came out.

When I was seven my family moved to an abandoned 45-acre farm. There was a pond, fields, woods, and streams. There were also rusted out cars in the overgrown field and old buildings that were falling down. My parents set out to restore the place, and my siblings and I helped. It was a lot of hard work, but today the farm is beautiful!

I loved to play outdoors with my sister Jennifer. We caught crayfish, built tree houses, and went on berry-picking expeditions. We were always getting into scrapes. I remember us riding our bikes down a steep hill, thinking that if we went fast enough, we would fly. Instead, we crashed into a ditch filled with briars. That kind of thing happened a lot.

I also loved to draw and read and write. And I loved learning new things in school. I was good at most subjects, but I hated gym. When we had to run around the track, I was always one of the last kids to finish. Looking back, I realize I had asthma that acted up when I ran. But I didn’t know it then!

I worked in laboratories as a plant biologist. I did experiments to understand how genes help plants grow and survive. The plant I studied is a little weed called Arabidopsis thaliana. It’s the laboratory mouse of plant research.

For a very short time, I studied microscopic worms. But I quickly learned that I didn’t enjoy staring at tiny worms all day. After that, I returned to studying plants.

I began keeping a diary as a girl, and that turned into a lifelong habit of keeping journals. But I never thought of becoming a writer. Instead I went to college and graduate school for science, and then I worked in laboratories doing scientific research. Finally, I decided I wanted a different job. At the time, I was reading wonderful books to my children, and that's when I decided to give writing for children a try.

I spend a lot of time in nature, and often I wonder about the things I see and hear. Reading a lot helps too. I read fiction and nonfiction for children and adults, as well as the latest science news. Reading children's books gives me ideas for how to tell stories to children. One important thing about being a writer is that you have to have a way to keep track of your ideas. Otherwise they just float away.

My favorite thing about being an author is learning new things about science and nature and sharing what I'm learning with young readers. I like being able to talk with scientists all over the world about their work. I like exploring outdoors and getting ideas for new books.

I've written books that take a few months or a year. Some books take many years, though that's because I'm working on them on and off, not steadily. Once I've written the words, then I send the text to my editors. They make comments and I do revisions. After we've got the words nailed down, it's time to add images, either made by an illustrator or selected by photo researchers. Then the book has to be printed. So it takes another six months to a year after I finish writing before it comes out in print. A picture book takes longer, because the illustrator needs up to a year to complete all the illustrations.

My dog, Sadie! For wild animals, I love bears of all kinds, sea turtles, birds of prey, seabirds, bumblebees, monarch butterflies… the list goes on and on!

Whatever book I am working on tends to be at the top of the list. I tend to fall in love with whatever subject I'm currently writing about. Still, a few books hold a special place. They include Top 50 Reasons to Care About Polar Bears, my very first authored book, and Plants Can't Sit Still, my first picture book.