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Written on: March 19th, 2025 in Education and Outreach
By Olivia Allread, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program
Nature has been engrained into storytelling basically since the beginning of time. In most cultures throughout history, the natural world has been featured in stories and books in many ways – a place of mystery, a pathway of self-discovery, foundations of peace and rest, even a location of magic and unearthly enchantment. Not to mention being the center point of many cultures’ traditions and explanations of our societal history. In these modern times, we could use a little escape. So, for this blog post let’s look at a few books written by female authors that feature one of our favorite things, wetlands.
Curlew Moon by Mary Colewell
Introducing the Eurasian curlew, the largest European wading bird. Once very common in the UK, the species now is under major threat from encroaching agricultural, loss of habitat, and has been listed as Near Threated on the global IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This book collides the story of an endangered species with a 500-mile walk of self-discovery that Colewell herself did in 2016. From the west of Ireland to the east coast of England, the journey was meant to raise awareness of the bird’s plight yet becomes a formative pilgrimage into estuaries and moors. Meeting wildlife, landowners, and conservationists along the way, Colewell takes a hard look at what complicates the lives of vulnerable species while following the curlew’s life from breeding to flying free.
Marjory Saves the Everglades by Sandra Neil Wallace
Real life experiences can breed the best books. This children’s book tells the story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, an environmental journalist and advocate who also helped form our incredible Everglades National Park. When Douglas returned home to Florida after World War I, she became increasingly concerned with the ruin and development of the Everglades area. Though she was not a scientist, she pursued learning as much as she could about the subtropical wetland ecosystem spanning two million acres across central and south Florida. This story concisely encompasses many parts of Douglas’ life – an author, a self-taught ecologist, an advocate, and the original meaning of a “Florida girl”. Through her work, America’s perspective of the Everglades transformed from a useless swamp to an invaluable resource worth protecting and preserving.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
How about one you may have heard of? This critically acclaimed book turned film follows two storylines that intertwine, mixing southern wetlands with murder mystery. Divided into two parts, “The Marsh” and “The Swamp”, readers follow the protagonist as she grows up in remote wetlands of North Carolina into young adulthood, when she is accused of committing a local murder. Along the way, she becomes a skilled,self-taught naturalist and scientific illustrator along the way. Known as the “Marsh Girl”, the meandering creeks and coastline of Kya’s world are worked into the plot from exposition to resolution in this coming-of-age story.
Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu by Pamela Freeman
Freeman is a well-known Australian writer with a hefty list of novels for all ages, and her children’s books usually have a heavy focus on the environment. Her most recent publication takes readers on an informative journey through the diverse seasons of Australia’s Kakadu National Park, where tropical wetlands go through the yearly weather cycle; dry to wet to dry again. Floodplains, lizards, light storms, spear grass, fruit bats, crocodiles, tidal flats – you name it, they’re featured. Plus, there are amazing illustrations to keep kids engaged. Nestled in Australia’s Northern Territory, Kakadu is also a UNESCO World Heritage site full of diverse wetland landscapes and Aboriginal culture.
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
This one is a bit out there, but an awesome read. As an alternative American history piece, the book expands on an early 20th century idea to fix the country’s meat shortage by importing hippos and raising them in Louisiana’s bayou. Yes, you heard that correct. The proposed plan and bill unfortunately fell through, but Gailey ran with the idea for her book to showcase an America where ranchers raised hippos in wetlands, rather than beef, to provide meat and control the invasive water hyacinth. Set in the 1890s, swamps and marshes are overrun with feral hippos, then steps in a super-hero not often seen – a rancher turned mercenary hippo wrangler. The wrangler and his band of whacky characters are tasked by the United States government to deal with the dangerous beasts and save the wetlands.
The Shore by Sara Taylor
And finally, wetlands on the Delmarva peninsula. A fiction novel taking place on a group of small islands off the coast of Virginia, the Shore has been home to generations of strong and resilient women. Throughout the story, the women’s experiences meet head-on, combining a 150-year history of two barrier island families from 1876 to 2143. Wealth and poverty play a major role in the outcomes of the generations who have lived there, while the connection to maritime land is threaded in each of the characters’ plot lines. Chesapeake Bay life is often beautifully isolated in culture yet biologically diverse in ecosystem, and this book certainly speaks to both sentiments of the watershed.
A setting in a book can provide that “je ne sais quoi” we all need to enjoy or take a break from the world. When we get in the weeds about politics or the degradation of our environment, a story can help us turn our thoughts to positivity and even advocacy. Discover a conservationist you’ve never heard of. Recount a historical moment in a dramatized way. Get kids enthralled with our ecosystems or habitats unseen. Not matter the genre, we’re happy to see wetlands setting the scene as a focal point of a good read.
Written on: March 19th, 2025 in Wetland Research, Wetland Restoration
By Kenny Smith, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment In 2024 the Delaware Coastal Program and the Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program worked together to update the Delaware Marsh Migration Model originally created in 2017. New and updated layers were added, as well as some refinement of scoring to better understand where our tidal wetlands may […]
Written on: March 19th, 2025 in Education and Outreach, Natural Resources
By Laura Scharle, Delmarva Trails and Waterways and Scharle Outdoor Recreation Picture this. It’s spring and the weather forecast for the weekend is looking like it’s going to be beautiful. You and your family are deciding how to spend your time outside enjoying the sunshine and mild temperatures. A bike ride, a trip to the […]
Written on: December 11th, 2024 in Education and Outreach, Natural Resources
By Jana Savini, Coastal Collaboration Coordinator, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and RASCL Coordinator The Delaware Resilient and Sustainable Communities League (RASCL) is a collaborative network of state agencies, nonprofits, and academic institutions that are dedicated to enhancing the resilience and sustainability of Delaware communities. By addressing climate challenges and capacity limitations, RASCL brings partners […]
Written on: December 10th, 2024 in Education and Outreach, Wetland Animals
By Olivia Allread, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Though pretending to be a National Geographic photographer is on our resumes, working in wetlands really does provide an exclusive opportunity to get up-close and personal with wildlife. Weather, soil, water, humans – many factors influence the presence of fauna in all wetland types. Each type […]
Written on: December 10th, 2024 in Education and Outreach
By Alison Stouffer, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program The seasons are changing and while I wish we could stay in the warmth of the Southwest a little longer, our road trip will be taking us up north to the Midwest United States. For those of you joining us for the first time, we are […]
Written on: September 16th, 2024 in Natural Resources
By Alison Stouffer, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Welcome back to the second installment of the WMAP cross country road trip! To our returning adventurers, we are so glad you have decided to join us on the next leg of the trip. For those of you joining us for the first time, we are […]
Written on: September 16th, 2024 in Education and Outreach, Wetland Research
By Olivia Allread, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program As our landscape continues to change due to development and urbanization, and the impacts from climate change are ever increasing, we must adapt our ways of managing natural resources. The last generation of environmentalists (we’re talking Clean Water Act days) did a great job with point […]
Written on: September 16th, 2024 in Education and Outreach, Wetland Research
By Elizabeth Long, Delaware Sea Grant Hi everybody! My name is Elizabeth Long, and for the past few months I have been working with Delaware Sea Grant as their Marine Debris intern! I graduated from Muhlenberg College in 2021 with a BS degree in Biology. After graduation, I moved out to Catalina Island off the […]
Written on: July 24th, 2024 in Natural Resources, Wetland Research
By Gabby Vailati and Brittany Sturgis, DNREC’s Watershed Assessment and Management Section Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Habitat and Biology Program began in the early 1990s after the passing of the Clean Water Act and awareness about local water quality began increasing. The program assessed a vast number of streams and assigned […]
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