*We host workshops for children and adults, many of them on our Drawing Room deck in Seal Harbor.*

Our Full Day-by-Day Schedule of Summer Workshops and Events

July 16, 2014

On top of all the learning, interacting and shopping that the two Naturalist's Notebook locations offer seven days a week, we're putting on some great summer events:

• Children's art/nature workshops five days a week, most in Seal Harbor, some in Northeast Harbor. Parents are welcome too. In fact, we suggest that children under 7 be accompanied by a parent or other adult.

• Adult and teen art workshops in Seal Harbor in August, led by Dina Helal (below) of the Whitney Museum and Margaret Krug (second photo below) of Parsons The New School and the author of An Artist's Handbook. Margaret's workshop, on color, will be Sunday, Aug. 17 from 1 to 4 p.m., with a fee of $40. Dina will lead encaustic-painting workshops on Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m., also with a fee of $40. Spaces are limited.

*One of the encaustic workshops taught last summer by Dina (second from left).*

Here's Margaret leading one of her past workshops at the Notebook in Seal Harbor. She is not only a teacher but also a superb artist, art historian and writer (in books and for American Artist magazine).

• July 23 Q-and-A in Seal Harbor with Katie Stack Morgan (below) of the Mars Rover project

*Katie gave Pamelia and me a tour of the Jet Propulsion Lab in March. That's where the Mars Rover project is based.*

• Aug. 12 talk by one of the world's foremost astronomers, Alex Filippenko (below) of the University of California at Berkeley (offsite at a larger venue, the Schoodic Institute, the talk’s co-sponsor)

*Pamelia with Alex in our Big Bang Room when he visited last September for his keynote speech at the Acadia Night Sky Festival.*

• Aug. 13 talk by one of the world's greatest naturalists and most popular nature/science writers, Bernd Heinrich (offsite at a larger venue, the Schoodic Institute, the talk’s co-sponsor)

*Pamelia and I with Bernd at his cabin in western Maine last year.*

• Aug. 15 reading and signing in Seal Harbor by Bernd Heinrich

At his Notebook talk and signing last summer, Bernd gave us a peek at the cover of his latest book, which didn't come out until April 2014. You never know what scoops you'll get if you come to the Notebook!

• Aug 18 reading and signing in Seal Harbor by College of the Atlantic ecology and natural history professor John Anderson from his book Deep Things Out of Darkness: A History of Natural History

• Aug. 22 reading and signing in Seal Harbor by Eileen Rockefeller

*Eileen, a Seal Harborite, will read from her new book.*

• Our annual Sweet 16 Honey-Tasting Tournament (below) every day in Seal Harbor starting in late July

*Taste two honeys per day and vote for your favorite—the winner moves on to the next round of the tournament! Can Maine Wild Raspberry defend its 2013 title?*

And much more. Below is the current day-by-day schedule, which we will update as changes occur. Remember to like and follow the Facebook page for The Naturalist's Notebook for daily reports!

DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE

MONDAY, JULY 21

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

*Jordan is both a gifted artist and a serious naturalist and biologist.*

TUESDAY, JULY 22

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

*Shannara (right, with fellow Notebooke Gem Lawrence) ran our color-themed 13.8-billion-year art workshops at the Northeast Harbor Notebook Annex last summer.*

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

*Amy, an artist and horticulturalist, has been painting an Acadia National Park carriage road scene in the Notebook in Seal Harbor.*

*Pamelia and I and animation genius Dan McCoy of Pixar took part in one of Amy's botanical drawing workshops last summer. Her class is for all ages!*

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, A SPECIAL APPEARANCE

Seal Harbor Naturalist's Notebook, 3:30-5 p.m.

Q-and-A about Mars and the Mars Rover with Katie Stack Morgan (below), a scientist from Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., who works on the Mars Rover project. Katie is young, dynamic, incredibly nice and a great role model for girls in particular. Come meet her! She is going to curate a Mars Room at The Naturalist's Notebook over the next two years. She'll be around until 5 p.m. to talk and answer questions.

Katie with me in March at the JPL's Mars Yard, which is used to test Mars Rovers.

THURSDAY, JULY 24

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant (below)

Free

Jordan has been painting the walls and ceiling of our Forest and Tidal Room in Seal Harbor with a scene that extends from Mount Katahdin to the rocky coast.

ALSO ON THURSDAY, JULY 24

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings (below)

$15 per child ($25 for two)

Robin has been curating our Ocean Room in Seal Harbor. She has been painting the floor and walls and building ocean-themed installations.

Robin led needle-felting workshops last summer at which children created ocean animals to help us build a healthy coral reef. She'll do that again as part of her workshop series.

FRIDAY, JULY 25

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

Eliza, who helped us create a downtown Northeast Harbor birding walk last summer, also helped out at a marbleizing workshop in Seal Harbor. Stay tuned—we may be holding another of those with teacher Shira Singer.

In fact, here's Shira Singer leading a marbleizing workshop last summer. We created planets!

MONDAY, JULY 28

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant

$15 per child ($25 for two)

Jordan is a natural explorer herself. Here's a shot of her from a few years ago doing a gull count on Egg Rock.

TUESDAY, JULY 29

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

THURSDAY, JULY 31

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, JULY 31

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 1

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

MONDAY, AUG. 4

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant

$15 per child ($25 for two)

TUESDAY, AUG. 5

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 6

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

THURSDAY, AUG. 7

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, AUG. 7

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 8

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

MONDAY, AUG. 11

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring Maine Forests and Tides”

With Jordan Chalfant

$15 per child ($25 for two)

TUESDAY, AUG. 12

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

SPECIAL EVENT ON TUESDAY NIGHT, AUG. 12:

Moore Auditorium, Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor, 7 p.m.

Alex Filippenko (below) of the University of California at Berkeley, one of the world's best known and most entertaining astrophysicists, will give a Naturalist's Notebook-organized talk hosted by the co-sponsor, the Schoodic Institute (SERC) in Winter Harbor at 7 p.m. Alex, who has been named the national educator of the year and been voted the best professor at Cal nine times, has playfully entitled his talk, "Exploding Stars and New Planets and Black Holes, Oh My! Frontier Research at Lick Observatory." He will weave together the fascinating story of Lick, one of the world's historic observatories, and the exciting discoveries that are still coming out of it. He'll also offer insights on the Perseid meteor shower, which will be peaking at that time. It's a talk not to be missed, and Alex will stick around afterward to field questions, pose for photos and share his boundless enthusiasm for astronomy.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

ALSO: SPECIAL EVENT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, AUG. 13:

Moore Auditorium, Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor, 7 p.m.

Naturalist and writer Bernd Heinrich (below) will reveal some of his latest field discoveries in a fun and enlightening talk entitled, "Blue Jays: American Chestnut Tree Planters," hosted by the co-sponsor, the Schoodic Institute (SERC). Pamelia and I were lucky enough to be with Bernd when he was doing some of his research on this subject at his cabin in western Maine. Bernd’s talks are always filled with surprises, insights and humor and this one will be no exception. It will be a great evening, and Bernd will field questions and be available to chat and sign books afterward.

Bernd Heinrich illustrates all his books. The Notebook currently has a show of 14 paintings that will appear in his next book, on birds, which is due out in 2015.

THURSDAY, AUG. 14

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, AUG. 14

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 15

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Northeast Harbor Birds”

With Eliza Rockefeller

Free

ALSO, SPECIAL EVENT ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON, AUG. 15

Seal Harbor Notebook, 3:30-5 p.m.

Reading and book signing by Bernd Heinrich. Bernd will read from his latest release, The Homing Instinct, and possibly tell us about his top secret book-in-progress, due out next year. We will have all of Bernd's book titles available to purchase as well as exclusive prints of his art.

Bernd with Pamelia on the deck of the Notebook in Seal Harbor last summer.

SUNDAY, AUG. 17

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Art workshop on color

With Margaret Krug, Parsons The New School

$40 (spaces very limited)

MONDAY, AUG. 18

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 3:30-5 p.m.

Book reading and signing by John Anderson of College of the Atlantic, author of Deep Things Out of Darkness: A History of Natural History.

John (below) is a professor of ecology and natural history and holds the W.H. Drury, Jr., Chair in Evolution, Ecology and Natural History. He is currently researching nesting seabirds and island ecology.

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Teen and adult encaustic painting workshop

With Dina Helal (below), Whitney Museum of American Art

$40 (spaces limited)

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Underground Art: Vegetables, Roots, Caves and Dirt”

With Shannara Gillman

$15 per child ($25 for two)

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Teen and adult encaustic painting workshop

With Dina Helal, Whitney Museum of American Art

$40 (spaces limited)

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 20

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 10-11:30 a.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Wildflowers and Botany”

With Amy Gagnon

$15 per child ($25 for two)

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 20

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 1-4 p.m.

Teen and adult encaustic painting workshop

With Dina Helal, Whitney Museum of American Art

$40 (spaces limited)

THURSDAY, AUG. 21

Northeast Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook Annex, 11 a.m.-noon

Children’s art workshop: “Making a Specimen Collection”

With Jordan Chalfant

Free

ALSO ON THURSDAY, AUG. 21

Seal Harbor Naturalist’s Notebook, 2-3:30 p.m.

Children’s art workshop: “Exploring the Ocean”

With Robin Owings

$15 per child ($25 for two)

FRIDAY, AUG. 22

Seal Harbor Notebook, 4 p.m.

Reading and book signing by Eileen Rockefeller (below) of Seal Harbor, author of "Being a Rockefeller, Becoming Myself: A Memoir."

We made an unplanned stop at the Luray Caverns in western Virginia. This mirror-like pool in the caverns was but one of many stunning sights.

Our Holiday Hours and the Road to 2014

November 20, 2013

We had never driven through nine states in a day, not even when co-piloting a support van for Pamelia's stepbrother more than a decade ago as he bicycled in the nonstop Race Across America from Oregon to Florida. But that's an advantage of living in the compact Northeast: If you hit the road at dawn in Maine, you can see nearly one-fifth of the U.S. states before you pull into Winchester, Va., for dinner.

That's exactly what Pamelia and I did in kicking off what should be an eventful and creative Naturalist's Notebook off-season.

I say "off-season" even though The Naturalist's Notebook never really sleeps. Indeed, we're re-opening the Seal Harbor Notebook the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), the day after that (Small Business Saturday) and every weekend from then through Dec. 22. We will open it on Wednesdays as well during that stretch. Please check our website (thenaturalistsnotebook.com) or our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Naturalistsnotebook) for updates and hours.

While on a hike in Virginia we paused to study the beautiful inner structure of a milkweed pod.

During a hike in Virginia we saw a lot of milkweed and found these lovely insects crawling over some of it. These are milkweed bug nymphs, one of the few insects that can tolerate eating the plant. The bugs' bright coloration warms potential predato… — During a hike in Virginia we saw a lot of milkweed and found these lovely insects crawling over some of it. These are milkweed bug nymphs, one of the few insects that can tolerate eating the plant. The bugs' bright coloration warms potential predators that the bugs are bad-tasting or even poisonous because of the milkweed they eat. Those little yellow guys are aphids.

Even apart from those holiday dates in Seal Harbor, however, the months ahead will be almost as busy as the past season, during which (among other things) we opened two additional Notebook locations (in Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor), began turning the Seal Harbor Notebook into a 13.8-billion-year environment, continued to develop our color-coded 13.8-Billion-Year Hue-Story of Our Life science-and-art initiative, ran art workshops ranging from encaustic painting (13.8-billion-year themes designed and taught by the amazing Dina Helal of the Whitney museum) to botanical drawing (Amy Gagnon) to anatomical drawing (Robin Owings) to ROY G BIV (Shannara Gillman), met a zillion great new people, added a puppy, worked on our new website, collaborated on a diorama-in-the-round, launched greeting cards and limited-edition giclee prints with the naturalist Bernd Heinrich, crowned Maine Wild Raspberry the champion of our Fifth Annual Sweet 16 Honey-Tasting Tournament, held a Maine hot-sauce tasting event in the middle of solar flares shooting out of our upstairs Sun, delighted an audience at the Northeast Harbor Library with a talk on animation by Dan McCoy of Pixar, welcomed the great astrophysicist Alex Filippenko of Cal Berkeley to the Big Bang room in Seal Harbor and began a sidewalk birding trail with the cooperation of shops in Northeast Harbor.

We did plan to rest after all that. But, well, the road to 2014 beckoned. And so Pamelia, Rocky the puppy and I climbed into our Notebook-mobile and set off on a series of autumn trips—not only to Virginia (where we did squeeze some down time in Hot Springs) but also to several closer destinations, including Dartmouth College; the Museum of Math and Sports Illustrated's offices in Manhattan; and the Maryland home of one of America's top geophysicists. These road trips are continuing as we meet with new and old Notebook collaborators, catch up with our families, work on SI's preparations for the Sochi Winter Olympics, and generally brainstorm.

At one of the Notebook's summer workshops, we marbleized paper and fabric under the tutelage of artist Shira Singer. Here we're floating paint on the surface of thickened water. We then set a large circle of paper on top of the paint, removed the pa… — At one of the Notebook's summer workshops, we marbleized paper and fabric under the tutelage of artist Shira Singer. Here we're floating paint on the surface of thickened water. We then set a large circle of paper on top of the paint, removed the paper and rinsed it in the first step toward creating the planet Jupiter.

Later on, at our house, special guests Dan McCoy of Pixar, Dina Helal of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Margaret Krug of Parsons the New School worked with Pamelia to the Jupiter painting. It will become one of our planet tables in the 2014 Not… — Later on, at our house, special guests Dan McCoy of Pixar, Dina Helal of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Margaret Krug of Parsons the New School worked with Pamelia to the Jupiter painting. It will become one of our planet tables in the 2014 Notebook.

Our annual Sweet 16 honey tasting tournament crowned its first two-time champion, Maine Wild Raspberry.

Jellyfish, anyone? Notebook visitors made needle-felted ocean life for our coral reef.

Pianists young and old tested out our electromagnetic spectrum keyboard.

We had the pleasure of spending a day in September with world renowned astrophysicist Alex Filippenko, Cal Berkeley's nine-time educator of the year. He was in Maine to deliver the keynote address at the Acadia Night Sky Festival.

While in our Moon room, Alex checked out an out-of-this-world piece by New York artist Rocco Alberico, another of our collaborators.

On an October trip to Hanover, N.H., Pamelia discussed our 13.8-Billion-Year Hue-Story of the Universe project with Dartmouth physicist Miles Blencowe.

During a stop in New York, I met the new president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, when he sat for an interview with one of my SI Olympic colleagues, Brian Cazeneuve.

Today's Puzzlers Here are three to mull over. The first is an art-and-politics quiz. Can you identify the three U.S. presidents in the portraits below? The paintings hang at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., a retreat that 22 sitting presidents have visited.

Here's an art-and-politics quiz for you: Which three U.S. presidents are these? The portraits hang at The Homestead in Hot Springs, a retreat that 22 sitting presidents have visited.

The second Puzzler: What type of leaf is shown below?

a) Tulip poplar b) Southern oak c) Sassafras

The final Puzzler is one to which I don't know the answer. Can you identify this gigantic leaf we found on the ground during a hike in Virginia?

We arrived in late afternoon at Pixar headquarters in Emeryville, on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

Welcome to Pixar, Berkeley and the Fun Frontier of Astronomy

February 6, 2013

Pamelia was sitting on the hotel bed when she read the sentence aloud: "The 1960s had revolution in the air in music and politics, but arguably the most lasting change was the emergence of a new way of seeing the planet."

Those words, written by scientist Neil Shubin in his new book, The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People, seemed particularly appropriate as we settled into our room in Berkeley, a block from the University of California campus. Berkeley and Cal were at the epicenter of that 1960s cultural revolution, and today Cal scientists are (as they have been for more than 80 years) at the forefront of discovering new ways of seeing both our planet and the universe. Moreover, the "lasting change" Shubin was citing—that is, the widespread scientific acceptance that the Earth is covered by continental plates that constantly move and collide, and that "old" land is swallowed up and "new" land created along mid-ocean volcanic ridges in a sort of geological conveyor belt—explains how California developed its wrinkled, mountainous, earthquake-prone landscape.

Some of those ideas had been around for years, but in science as in other fields, new ideas aren't always immediately welcomed. Pamelia and I were hoping that on our visit to Berkeley—and neighboring Emeryville, home of Pixar studios—we would find scientists and artists willing to collaborate on some of our own new ideas.

In a plaza outside the Steve Jobs Building sits large model of Luxo Jr., one of the two table-lamp stars of Pixar's famous 1986 animated short of that same name, and now the symbol of the company. As you can see, Luxo Jr. lights up at night.

As you know from my last post and Facebook postings, we traveled from Maine to California to meet with experts who might collaborate with us on Naturalist's Notebook initiatives that merge science, nature and the arts in creative, educational ways. I'm happy to report that every person we have met with on the trip—from a funny, inventive authority on music and sound effects and paper theater to a top science writer to renowned astrophysicists to a primate researcher to a distinguished professor of literature—has come on board. They're excited and so are we. And in the Bay Area we added one of America's foremost astrophysicists, Cal professor Alex Filippenko, and an animation whiz from Pixar, Dan McCoy—both of them wonderful people on top of being experts in their field—to our efforts to inspire and enable people of all ages to embrace a love of learning and share in the discoveries at the frontier of knowledge.

Steve Jobs designed a large open space in the main HQ building to encourage interaction and creativity among the entire Pixar staff.

The last time I'd set foot on the Berkeley campus was in February of my senior year of college, when I was temporarily living in the Bay Area and writing my honors thesis for a school back East. I was allowed to use the Cal library to do some research. My recollection is that Berkeley felt a bit wilder and scruffier then than it does now; someone in fact told me before Pamelia and I drove up here from the San Diego leg of our trip that she would be eager to hear if I felt that Berkeley had become a "Disneyfied" version of its old radical self.

Pamelia with Dan McCoy, one of the wizards of Pixar. Dan (who once worked for NASA) was most recently the supervising technical director of the Oscar-nominated short La Luna, which was shown in theaters before Brave. He showed us a range of sketches… — Pamelia with Dan McCoy, one of the wizards of Pixar. Dan (who once worked for NASA) was most recently the supervising technical director of the Oscar-nominated short La Luna, which was shown in theaters before Brave. He showed us a range of sketches, storyboards, sculptures, script pages and—I'm running out of S-words here—screen clips that illustrated the entire creative process behind Brave. Those banners hanging in the background have images linked to Brave.

I mentioned the Oscars right? These were the first ones Pamelia and I had ever seen in person.

I suppose that to some extent I did, but Pamelia and I loved wandering the town and the hilly campus, looking at the redwoods, watching the birds, seeing all the bear statues and painted footprints, and listening to students making comments to each other such as, "I'm still trying to figure out which direction the rings of Saturn spin..." and "I was reading Stephen Hawking..." and "I would go to WAR over Doritos..."

As darkness fell, we bid farewell to the Monsters, Inc., characters Sulley (left) and Mike.

The photos here are showing you some of the sights we saw, but scarcely begin to reflect the richness of the visit. In a few minutes we will be heading south along Route 1 to see elephant seals and find a place to celebrate Pamelia's birthday. However, we'll still be thinking about our Cal-Pixar experience.

At Cal we met with one of America's foremost astrophysicists, Alex Filippenko (center), who also happens to be a wonderful guy and an amazing teacher. Students have voted him Cal's Best Professor a record nine times, and he has been named the nation… — At Cal we met with one of America's foremost astrophysicists, Alex Filippenko (center), who also happens to be a wonderful guy and an amazing teacher. Students have voted him Cal's Best Professor a record nine times, and he has been named the national professor of the year.

Cal's cool astronomy T-shirts combine the school's landmark campanile with Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night.

We found Mars—inhabited by Martians!—on Berkeley's Telegraph Ave.

Smart choice in wine? This bottle greeted us when we arrived at our Berkeley hotel, which had a Cal theme.

Even the art in our room had a brainy theme.

Pamelia took time to pose with some of the many bears at Cal, whose teams are known as the Golden Bears. (In the interest of good taste, I will spare you the photo of the red Stanford-logoed urinal in the public men's room at our hotel, a typical Ca… — Pamelia took time to pose with some of the many bears at Cal, whose teams are known as the Golden Bears. (In the interest of good taste, I will spare you the photo of the red Stanford-logoed urinal in the public men's room at our hotel, a typical Cal tribute to its archrival.)

A flock of cedar waxwings was fueliing up on berries on campus.

We climbed one of the Berkeley hills to try to visit the botanical gardens (closed for the day) and the Lawrence Hall of Science (open and delightful), Pamelia saw this four-inch leopard slug on the path.

Outside the Lawrence Hall of Science is a large model of DNA. Those silvery pipes are the tk. The plastic connectors .

Less than 24 hours after seeing our first Oscar, we were looking at our first Nobel Prize, the one for physics that Ernest Lawrence received in 1939.

Answer to the Last Puzzler As several of you correctly responded, the plant in the photo was witch hazel.

Today's Puzzler The photo below shows parts of seed pods from a common California tree that in fact is an invasive species, having been introduced from Australia during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s. What type of tree is it?

a) coastal redwood b) palm c) eucalyptus

Pamelia brought color and 13.7 billion years of history to Bates.

Our Interactive Timeline Installation at the TEDx Maine Conference at Bates College

October 30, 2012

It seems unreal at the moment that in a few days Pamelia and I will be in Russia's Caucasus Mountains, looking out over the Black Sea and staying at a hotel compound next door to Vladimir Putin's high-security vacation retreat. That potentially fascinating Sports Illustrated Sochi Winter Olympic scouting/planning trip is looming, but we are caught up in the news of Hurricane Sandy and its devastating impact. (Maine has gotten off easy; the winds here on the coast are roaring, but damage and flooding have been minimal.) We're also in the thick of another stretch of non-stop Naturalist's Notebook activity, one that has included a TEDx conference, a fantastic meeting with nine naturalists from across the country, a talk to 100 top staffers of a major company, a visit to naturalist/writer Bernd Heinrich's cabin in western Maine, a meeting with two artists about 2013 collaborations, and more.

You might want to climb aboard our Red Panda-mobile for this blog ride.

The TEDx Trip

The Maine TEDx conference took place at Bates College’s Olin Arts Center, which sits by a small campus lake. If you look closely at the brick building on the right, you can see some of the 24 colored displays that made up our interactive trail.

"From now on, I am SO for U-Haul," said Pamelia. She had just seen what we would soon dub the Red Panda-mobile: a 10-foot truck—decorated, to our delight, with the image of a threatened, tree-dwelling Asian mammal—that we had rented for our much-anticipated journey to Bates College. We were making the three-hour-drive south from The Naturalist's Notebook to attend the TEDxDirigo conference, a state-level version of the global TED-talk events ("ideas worth sharing") that have become an international phenomenon through TED.com.

Several weeks earlier, Pamelia and I had received an exciting invitation from TEDxDirigo. (Dirigo is the Maine state motto, meaning I lead and originating in part from the state's former tradition of holding its elections in September, ahead of the rest of the country.) TEDxDirigo executive director Adam Burk, who had enjoyed a visit to the Notebook this summer along with organization co-founder Michael (Gil) Gilroy, had asked if we would create an outdoor, pop-up, interactive version of some portion of the Notebook to accompany the Bates conference. The TEDx gathering would feature 16 speakers from Maine, ranging from College of the Atlantic senior Anjali Appadurai, an extraordinary young woman and youth delegate to world climate change conferences, to EepyBird, the two viral-video geniuses behind creations such as the now-famous exploding-Diet-Coke-and-Mentos YouTube clip (see below). The speakers and the 300 attendees would spend the day sharing ideas about the world and the future.

The Red Panda-mobile not only held all the parts and pieces of our history-of-the-universe installation, but also bore a Naturalist’s Notebook-worthy message about animals and natural history.

Of course we said yes to the invitation. We are huge fans of TED talks and TED's mission of creating "a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other."

Keep in mind that we launched The Naturalist's Notebook shop and exploratorium in 2009 in an effort to merge nature, science, art and the frontier of knowledge in fun, creative ways. We wanted to engage people's minds and attention by combining not only content with commerce (in what we call shop-and-think installations), but also intelligence with imagination, ideas with interactivity, and the skills of an artist (Pamelia) and a writer/editor (me) with the challenge of explaining and illuminating the amazing world in which we all live. We wanted to fill the Notebook with the voices of the planet's greatest scientists and naturalists and artists. From Day One our catchline—a reference to the scientifically accepted age of the universe—has been, "A place for everyone who's even a little curious about the last 13.7 billion years (give or take)."

Thus, for the Bates event, we decided to create a simple, traveling version of the 24-color, 13.7-billion-year, spectrum-linked, big-history-of-the-universe staircase installation at The Naturalist's Notebook. That beautiful staircase—which was painted last spring and Pamelia began to sketch in with a temporary, paper-cutout timeline this summer—is just an early stage of one small piece of a work in progress. Over the next several years Pamelia, who is a painter and photographer, and I will continue to develop the many components and expressions of that project, which we call the 13.7-Billion-Year Hue-Story of Our Life. It will merge art, science and education (for different age groups) in unique, engaging, mind-opening ways.

One section of the 13.7-billion-year staircase installation at the Notebook.

But one step at a time. First we had a traveling timeline to build for TEDx.

With help from our friends John Clark and Leanne Nickon, we created 24 wooden stations, each painted a different color and each representing one period in the universe's history, as in the Notebook staircase. Eli Mellen and Virginia Brooks came up with fun activities linked to each time period, and then painted homemade chalkboards (using old wooden shingles) to present the activities to the TEDx attendees who would be walking through—and interacting with, we hoped—the 24-station timeline.

Who was that checking out the 24 display pieces in the works in Leanne’s studio in early October? It was one of several variations of a character that we've named HUEMAN—an embodiment of the 24 colors used to represent the 24 time periods in the his… — Who was that checking out the 24 display pieces in the works in Leanne’s studio in early October? It was one of several variations of a character that we've named HUEMAN—an embodiment of the 24 colors used to represent the 24 time periods in the history of the universe. You’ll be seeing a lot more of HUEMAN.

You can't fit 13.7 billion years in the back of a car, of course, which is why we had to rent the truck. It was an unexpected delight. On the sides of more than 1,900 of its vehicles, it turns out, U-Haul is celebrating the discovery in Tennessee of the world's most complete fossil of an ancient red panda. The almost five-million-year-old relic was found—along with fossils of rhinos, elephants, alligators, camels and other animals that lived in the future Volunteer State during the Miocene epoch—at the Gray Fossil Site, a prehistoric sinkhole that was itself discovered several years ago, when the Tennessee Highway Department was widening state Route 25. Let's hear it for public works.

It may be startling to read that red pandas once lived in the southeastern U.S. (today they reside only in the Himalayas and China, where they are in peril because of habitat loss and poaching), but such intriguing discoveries are commonplace if you look at the full scope of history covering those 13.7 billion years. The changes the Earth has undergone in its mere four-and-a-half billion years of existence are astounding, yet understandable if you grasp how the forces of physics, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, biology, climate change, natural selection and plate tectonics (among many others) can alter planets and life forms over such a vast a period. Looking at the full sweep of history is like like seeing an aerial view for the first time—wow! It's fascinating, and whets your appetite to see and learn more.

Pamelia designed display pieces that were relatively easy to transport and could be unfolded to stand upright. We kept changing the arrangement of the pieces so that TEDx attendees would have a different experience each time they walked out of the a… — Pamelia designed display pieces that were relatively easy to transport and could be unfolded to stand upright. We kept changing the arrangement of the pieces so that TEDx attendees would have a different experience each time they walked out of the auditorium for a break.

Unfortunately, to most people the prospect of studying the last 13.7 billion years can seem overwhelming—a journey back into the high-school science classes they dreaded. The terminology alone is daunting. If phases such as Miocene epoch make your eyes glaze over, well, you're pretty normal.

That's why we—especially Pamelia—began work on the 13.7-Billion-Year Hue-Story of Our Life. Through the project, we hope to bring more clarity, simplicity, visual impact and mass appeal to the narrative of our scientifically documented long-term past. It's not about memorizing the names of geological eras. It's about opening an astounding door of discovery and making it easier to learn about our planetary home and who we are as humans.

Pamelia chose to use the spectrum not only because she's an artist but also because it is the color order given to us in sunlight, and because it is fundamental to our visual perception of the world, and because even young children know and respond eagerly to color, and because scientists rely on the spectrum as an essential tool when analyzing everything from distant stars to tiny molecules (each chemical element has a unique color "fingerprint" when studied with spectroscopy).

We initially set up the 24 installation pieces on the path that conference-goers would take to the Bates dining hall for lunch. Food for thought?

Each installation piece focused on one time period, in this case the age in which land plants proliferated and the first winged insects appeared. At this station people were invited to make paper-airplane insects to launch at a later station to try … — Each installation piece focused on one time period, in this case the age in which land plants proliferated and the first winged insects appeared. At this station people were invited to make paper-airplane insects to launch at a later station to try to avoid extinction.

A life-size HUEMAN greeted conference-goers as soon as they stepped outside the arts center.

"Our Sun gives us just one color order—the spectrum—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet,” says Pamelia in explaining why the spectrum so appealed to her as a coding method for a 13.7-billion-year timeline. "That fundamental, astonishingly beautiful, color code is embedded in our existence. It's in the foundations of the universe and in every atom. It's beautifully simple and familiar. It's everywhere. We see it in rainbows and on our artist canvases and in our crayon boxes. When I was working through all these fields of study, this color code kept coming to the surface in one way or another in each field—even at the atomic level of our own bodies. Having spent my life as an artist, the color code is my life, but little did I realize that it really IS my life!"

When she mentions "working through all these fields of study," Pamelia is describing her research for the 13.7-Billion-Year Hue-Story of Our Life. She has always spent a lot of time studying and thinking about our biological origins and how the Earth and the universe work. In developing this project and its color code, however, she has delved more deeply into the science of the electromagnetic spectrum (of which our visual spectrum is only a miniscule portion) and immersed herself in writings and lectures by men and women who are at the forefront of discovering and disseminating scientific knowledge of all types.

Among those whose work has been most helpful to her and us—and this is but a fraction of the list—have been paleontologist, anatomist and evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin (Your Inner Fish); geologist and Earth scientist Robert Hazen (The Story of Earth); biologist E.O. Wilson (too many books to list); paleontologists Meave and Louise Leakey; history professor David Christian (inventor of the course of study known as Big History); geophysicist Michael Wysession (How the Earth Works); astrophysicists Alex Filippenko (Understanding the Universe) and Neil deGrasse Tyson (My Favorite Universe and many others); paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall (Extinct Humans and Bones, Brains and DNA); physicist Steven Pollock (Particle Physics for Non-Physicists); and writers Thom Holmes (Prehistoric Earth series) and Bill Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything). One skill the aforementioned share (and we hope to emulate) is an ability to make complex science accessible—and in Bryson's case, quite entertaining—to the average person.

For a fun photo station, we hung two canvases on which Virginia had painted color-coded, you-stand-here outlines based on the familiar Ascent of Man image (never mind that the image is somewhat imprecise in evolutionary terms—chimpanzees are our bio… — For a fun photo station, we hung two canvases on which Virginia had painted color-coded, you-stand-here outlines based on the familiar Ascent of Man image (never mind that the image is somewhat imprecise in evolutionary terms—chimpanzees are our biological cousins, not our ancestors).

Our research for The Naturalist's Notebook and the 13.7-Billion-Year Hue-Story of Our Life project has been exhilarating. Every day we have found new connections and ideas and quite often Pamelia is up reading about all this at 2 a.m., unable to put a book down. We wake up and immediately start weaving together strands of insight from different fields of study in sketches and notes. The history of the universe, the Earth and the development of life fit in remarkable yet logical ways into the color-coded system—artistically as well as scientifically. In the cold blue colors of the timeline, ocean life and cold-blooded creatures dominate; in the green range, plants proliferate; in the warmer reds, warm-blooded animals rise and rule. And so on. That's just how the colors fall when paired with geologic eras. It might be a new way for you to look at your crayon set.

The Naturalist’s Notebok book table offered titles related to the speakers’ talks and Pamelia’s installation as well as a small sampling of the more than 1,000 other books at our shop/exploratorium in Seal Harbor.

We brought a little extra DNA along in the Panda-mobile too.

The TEDx attendees seemed drawn to the colors and content of our traveling installation. They interacted with the stations and talked to me about the project as I worked at a book table outside the auditorium. Two of the Notebook's ambitions are to bring together people and insights from different fields (a concept E.O. Wilson calls "consilience"), and to bridge the chasm between scientific knowledge and public awareness of it. Our day at TEDxDirigo enabled us to do both. The conference itself was a huge success, and the conference-goers came out of each lecture session upbeat and energized. Funny how spending time sharing intelligent ideas can have that effect.

TEDx attendees took part in honey tasting at the 150-million-year station, which covered the period in which the first flowering plants and bees appeared.

Some TEDx-ers enjoyed sharing a HUEMAN touch.

Others created structures from the building blocks of life, represented by Legos.

The HUEMAN skeleton looked splendid inside the art center, hanging out with the Big Bang.

We added one of the chimp illustrations from Jane Goodall Day at the Notebook.

Not sure if you can read the license plate that, in a strange coincidence, we saw near the Bates campus on earlier trip to the school this fall. It reads ROY G BIV, which as any art student can tell you, is the acronym for the ordered colors of the … — Not sure if you can read the license plate that, in a strange coincidence, we saw near the Bates campus on earlier trip to the school this fall. It reads ROY G BIV, which as any art student can tell you, is the acronym for the ordered colors of the spectrum, as mentioned above: Red,Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

Supernova Night I know this blog post is long already, but I have to thank a top Maine company for inviting Pamelia and me to give a talk to a wonderful group of about 100 of its executives and managers from across the country about what the Notebook does and how she and I try to creativity to keep the shop and exploratorium vibrant. We all gathered at the coolest place in Brunswick, the Frontier cafe and theater, which is owned by previously mentioned TEDxDirigo co-founder Michael (Gil) Gilroy and overlooks the Androscoggin River from inside Fort Andross, a former cotton mill. Gil himself gave a memorable talk on how a harrowing yet poignant experience in Russia eventually led him to launch Frontier (and try to bring people together). Another of the speakers, Luke Livingston, founder of the fast-growing Baxter Brewing Company, merged comedy (the tale of turning his college dorm room into a personal brewery) and tragedy (the loss of his mother to breast cancer) to explain how he came to pursue his passion and found his innovative and environmentally progressive beer-making operation in his hometown of Auburn, Maine. (Did I mention how good his IPA is?)

The mighty Androscoggin River, as seen through the windows at Frontier. The Androscoggin was once so polluted that it inspired then-Maine Senator Edmund Muskie to write the 1972 Clean Water Act. It’s much better now, though—like our installation—it’… — The mighty Androscoggin River, as seen through the windows at Frontier. The Androscoggin was once so polluted that it inspired then-Maine Senator Edmund Muskie to write the 1972 Clean Water Act. It’s much better now, though—like our installation—it’s still a work in progress.

I survived my 10 minutes on stage with the help of lots of photos.

One of the many other highlights of the evening was the first (unofficial) world record ever set under the aegis of The Naturalist's Notebook. We have a tradition, when celebrating a great idea or success, of gathering in a circle, putting both hands up, palms facing the outside, at about head level, saying, "One, two, three..." and then—at the instant when we all yell, "Supernova!"—high-fiving the people on both sides of us simultaneously. It takes a little practice to actually connect with both neighbors' hands and create the satisfying slap! but it's a fun, team-spirit activity that the audience in Brunswick adopted enthusiastically. All 100 of the company staffers formed a giant circle and performed what we think was the largest and loudest supernova cheer in history. Some were still doing high-fives and yelling, "Supernova!" on their way out of Frontier.

Just another crazy moment in our own supernova week.

Today's Puzzler We found this star-shaped leaf on the ground on the path around the lake at Bates. What kind of tree is it from?

a) sweetgum b) star anise c) golden maple

2) In the photo below, can you tell what was perched on a rock overlooking the Androscoggin on the morning of our TEDx talk?

a) a bald eagle b) a red fox c) a keg of Baxter Brewing Company beer

And In Case You Never Saw That Exploding-Diet-Coke-and-Mentos-Mints Video I Mentioned:

News, Notes and Photos from the Field (Craig and Pamelia's Blog)

Craig & Pamelia's Past Posts

Darwin's Past Posts