What do you think?
Rate this book
By Sharman Apt Russell - Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New (2014-10-16) [Paperback]
In the exploding world of citizen science, hundreds of thousands of volunteers are monitoring climate change, tracking bird migration, finding stardust for NASA, and excavating mastodons. The sheer number of citizen scientists, combined with new technology, has begun to shape how research is conducted. Non-professionals become acknowledged experts: dentists turn into astronomers and accountants into botanists.
Diary of a Citizen Scientist is a timely exploration of this phenomenon, told through the lens of nature writer Sharman Apt Russell’s yearlong study of a little-known species, the Western red-bellied tiger beetle. In a voice both humorous and lyrical, Russell recounts her persistent and joyful tracking of an insect she calls “charismatic,” “elegant,” and “fierce.” Patrolling the Gila River in southwestern New Mexico, collector’s net in hand, she negotiates the realities of climate change even as she celebrates the beauty of a still-wild and rural landscape.
Russell’s self-awareness—of her occasionally-misplaced confidence, her quest to fill in “that blank spot on the map of tiger beetles,” and her desire to become newly engaged in her life—creates a portrait not only of the tiger beetle she tracks, but of the mindset behind self-driven scientific inquiry. Falling in love with the diversity of citizen science, she participates in crowdsourcing programs that range from cataloguing galaxies to monitoring the phenology of native plants, applauds the growing role of citizen science in environmental activism, and marvels at the profusion of projects around the world.
Diary of a Citizen Scientist offers its readers a glimpse into the transformative properties of citizen science—and documents the transformation of the field as a whole.
Diary of a Citizen Scientist is a timely exploration of this phenomenon, told through the lens of nature writer Sharman Apt Russell’s yearlong study of a little-known species, the Western red-bellied tiger beetle. In a voice both humorous and lyrical, Russell recounts her persistent and joyful tracking of an insect she calls “charismatic,” “elegant,” and “fierce.” Patrolling the Gila River in southwestern New Mexico, collector’s net in hand, she negotiates the realities of climate change even as she celebrates the beauty of a still-wild and rural landscape.
Russell’s self-awareness—of her occasionally-misplaced confidence, her quest to fill in “that blank spot on the map of tiger beetles,” and her desire to become newly engaged in her life—creates a portrait not only of the tiger beetle she tracks, but of the mindset behind self-driven scientific inquiry. Falling in love with the diversity of citizen science, she participates in crowdsourcing programs that range from cataloguing galaxies to monitoring the phenology of native plants, applauds the growing role of citizen science in environmental activism, and marvels at the profusion of projects around the world.
Diary of a Citizen Scientist offers its readers a glimpse into the transformative properties of citizen science—and documents the transformation of the field as a whole.
Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
7 people are currently reading
869 people want to read
About the author
Sharman Apt Russell
26 books263 followersI am pleased to be considered a nature and science writer and excited that my Diary of a Citizen Scientist was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. The John Burroughs Medal was first given in 1926, and recipients include Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Barry Lopez, John McPhee, and many others. To be in such a list.
My most recent nonfiction is What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs (Columbia University Press, 2024)--part memoir of my tracking experiences, part introduction to the basics of identifying mammal tracks, and part call to reform how we manage wildlife in North America.
My previous Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It (Pantheon Books, April, 2021) combines my longtime interest in the environment with my longtime interest in hunger. I began writing about this subject some twenty years ago, believing firmly that the goals of the environmentalist and the humanitarian are aligned. Healthy children require a healthy Earth. A healthy Earth requires healthy children.
Essentially I write about whatever interests me and seems important--living in place, grazing on public land, archaeology, flowers, butterflies, hunger, Cabeza de Vaca, citizen science, global warming, and pantheism.
I like this range of subject matter. I believe, too, in this braid of myth and science, celebration and apocalypse.
A little bit of bio:
Raised in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981 I settled in southern New Mexico as a "back to the lander" and have stayed there ever since. I am a professor emeritus in the Humanities Department at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, as well as a mentoring faculty at Antioch University in Los Angeles. I received my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana and my B.S. in Conservation and Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.
My work has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Swedish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Polish, and Italian. That is really a unique thrill: to see your words in Chinese ideograms.
My most recent nonfiction is What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs (Columbia University Press, 2024)--part memoir of my tracking experiences, part introduction to the basics of identifying mammal tracks, and part call to reform how we manage wildlife in North America.
My previous Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It (Pantheon Books, April, 2021) combines my longtime interest in the environment with my longtime interest in hunger. I began writing about this subject some twenty years ago, believing firmly that the goals of the environmentalist and the humanitarian are aligned. Healthy children require a healthy Earth. A healthy Earth requires healthy children.
Essentially I write about whatever interests me and seems important--living in place, grazing on public land, archaeology, flowers, butterflies, hunger, Cabeza de Vaca, citizen science, global warming, and pantheism.
I like this range of subject matter. I believe, too, in this braid of myth and science, celebration and apocalypse.
A little bit of bio:
Raised in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981 I settled in southern New Mexico as a "back to the lander" and have stayed there ever since. I am a professor emeritus in the Humanities Department at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, as well as a mentoring faculty at Antioch University in Los Angeles. I received my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana and my B.S. in Conservation and Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.
My work has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Swedish, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Polish, and Italian. That is really a unique thrill: to see your words in Chinese ideograms.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 28, 2015
I am meandering around the edges of citizen science groups: I will be taking an online class with Project Budburst for my science classes. I am with iNaturalist and Bugguide and have several first sightings of insects for Vermont. But I'm unorganized; darting to and fro without focus. I admire the way Sharman Apt Russell keeps her eye on her objectives while writing and researching other citizen science groups. I will have to try to follow in her footsteps.
This was a delightful book. I read it after reading Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout , so I was somewhat familiar with the Gila Mountains. I explored them on Google Earth (which has become a way to double the time needed to read a book lately).
Sharman's writing style had me chuckling often with the irony of somebody else whose trains of thought seem to be on the same rail as mine ("If I commit to searching a million acres a year, I could do this as a three-year study." Russell, Sharman Apt (2014-11-03). Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World (Kindle Locations 1150-1151). Oregon State University Press. Kindle Edition) and "It does make me want to cheer, kick up my feet, and flip backwards— something I’d like to be able to do in any case." (Kindle Location 1309)) I learned how to use an insect net, which we have plans on buying for this upcoming season (why are the handles on the nets so long? Doesn't that make them clumsier then they need be?) I shared her frustration in trying to decipher a guidebook description of an insect with the actual insect in front of you.
Sharman writes as a woman and I admire that. I often try to pose as something I am not and I don't have to do that. I should simply write as who I am in language that I use, whether it be scientific nomenclature or our household nicknames for some bugs.
I completely identified with Sharman's excitement at being the first person to see the first instar of the Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetle. We have been the first to report many Lepidoptera in Vermont and the feeling of pride of one's accomplishment cannot be reproduced. One Amazon reviewer, a biologist, disparaged this aspect of Sharman's book and wrote that biology today is team work, not the ground breaking, new species finding work of a generation and more in the past. But I disagree. The excitement is huge. And according to Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World , there are still millions of new insects in the world to be discovered. Hundreds of new species are found every year in the US. I still have hope!
I was comforted by the description of the middle-aged brain but disagreed with the apocalyptic view of ecosystems in the world. We are more optimistic that the world is going to survive even though it will look differently than today (but I'm not saying that we should not get in and battle habitat destruction or not fight for other causes). We may be optimistic because of the rural area that we live in.
I have a list of new citizen science projects to peruse for school. I have new ideas for bug hunting for this summer. I have new knowledge about our tiger beetles so that I can more easily find them instead of just stumble upon them. The importance of scientific bug names was emphasized in this book. My husband and I often have serious disagreements, even arguments, about the names of organisms. Snipe (Vermont) or woodcock (New Hampshire)? We are just beginning to speak Latin to each other now to avoid these rows. Indian Paintbrush or Devil's Paintbrush? And the regional names for Viburnums? We may just make up our own names for those.
Sharman quotes Burroughs from The Gospel of Nature (available for free from Google Books) and I am going to close with this and then put it on my wall:
Thank you, Sharman, for this marvelous book.
This was a delightful book. I read it after reading Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout , so I was somewhat familiar with the Gila Mountains. I explored them on Google Earth (which has become a way to double the time needed to read a book lately).
Sharman's writing style had me chuckling often with the irony of somebody else whose trains of thought seem to be on the same rail as mine ("If I commit to searching a million acres a year, I could do this as a three-year study." Russell, Sharman Apt (2014-11-03). Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World (Kindle Locations 1150-1151). Oregon State University Press. Kindle Edition) and "It does make me want to cheer, kick up my feet, and flip backwards— something I’d like to be able to do in any case." (Kindle Location 1309)) I learned how to use an insect net, which we have plans on buying for this upcoming season (why are the handles on the nets so long? Doesn't that make them clumsier then they need be?) I shared her frustration in trying to decipher a guidebook description of an insect with the actual insect in front of you.
Sharman writes as a woman and I admire that. I often try to pose as something I am not and I don't have to do that. I should simply write as who I am in language that I use, whether it be scientific nomenclature or our household nicknames for some bugs.
I completely identified with Sharman's excitement at being the first person to see the first instar of the Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetle. We have been the first to report many Lepidoptera in Vermont and the feeling of pride of one's accomplishment cannot be reproduced. One Amazon reviewer, a biologist, disparaged this aspect of Sharman's book and wrote that biology today is team work, not the ground breaking, new species finding work of a generation and more in the past. But I disagree. The excitement is huge. And according to Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World , there are still millions of new insects in the world to be discovered. Hundreds of new species are found every year in the US. I still have hope!
I was comforted by the description of the middle-aged brain but disagreed with the apocalyptic view of ecosystems in the world. We are more optimistic that the world is going to survive even though it will look differently than today (but I'm not saying that we should not get in and battle habitat destruction or not fight for other causes). We may be optimistic because of the rural area that we live in.
I have a list of new citizen science projects to peruse for school. I have new ideas for bug hunting for this summer. I have new knowledge about our tiger beetles so that I can more easily find them instead of just stumble upon them. The importance of scientific bug names was emphasized in this book. My husband and I often have serious disagreements, even arguments, about the names of organisms. Snipe (Vermont) or woodcock (New Hampshire)? We are just beginning to speak Latin to each other now to avoid these rows. Indian Paintbrush or Devil's Paintbrush? And the regional names for Viburnums? We may just make up our own names for those.
Sharman quotes Burroughs from The Gospel of Nature (available for free from Google Books) and I am going to close with this and then put it on my wall:
The nature-lover is not looking for mere facts, but for meanings, for something he can translate into the terms of his own life. He wants facts, but significant facts—luminous facts that throw light upon the ways of animate and inanimate nature.
Thank you, Sharman, for this marvelous book.
May 23, 2015
The title of Sharman Apt Russell’s book, Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other Ways of Engaging the World, says it all. Ms. Russell, by example, shows and/or reminds the reader that s/he to can stay connected to nature, to the earth, to all that is around us that is not manmade, and still live a life that includes a significant other, children, a job, getting to the big box retail for the yearly sale—all that is being part of the 21st Century in the western world. A person can find a science project that is right sized for them and get into that game; each of us can make a contribution whether we live in Southwestern, New Mexico or the middle of Los Angeles, California. Russell’s book is a how-to. She takes us on her journey—part detective novel (where is that Rio Grande tiger beetle?) and part personal narrative (her diary) that spans almost 18 months (July 2011-Nov. 2012). And the milestones are as exciting as the day to day-ness of the book is instructive: Will the larvae in the terrarium make it? Will Ms. Russell really be able to cut into the ovaries of a tiny tiger beetle? This intermixed with visits to her daughter’s third grade classroom which is in another small New Mexico town, or a reflection such as this: “What I really think: I should be on my knees. The sky is a religious landscape, not a scientific one. I think about my father….” makes for expansive read.
And don’t worry, the guests at this party are not all beetles. To name but a few, there are coati, black bear, foxes, bobcats, grasshoppers, cranes, Javelinas…and I could go on.
As with all Russell’s book, there are the insights that bring me up short. There are three sentences in this book that I now have taped to the wall in my bedroom: “The physics of beauty is really the biology of beauty, and the biology of beauty is what we claim as our own, what we build inside our bodies to resonate with what we see outside in the world. Now I understand that almost everywhere I go, for the rest of my life, I will see tiger beetles. Everywhere I go, because of that, the world will be more beautiful.” Reflections such as this turn the reading a Sharman Apt Russell book into a growth spurt. I am richer for it; my understanding of my relationship to the planet is made more true.
December 31, 2015
I have to admit that I am (still) not that interested in the life cycle of tiger beetles, but the writing and the inspiration to engage in citizen science projects made it more than worthwhile.
August 11, 2015
I started keeping bird lists in 1947 and have been a bird watcher ever since; only recently have I become a Citizen Scientist. That is because I send my bird feeder lists in the winter and seasonal observations the rest of the year to Michigan Audubon, who add them to what other bird watchers have seen into compilations of data. People used to make fun of me for my hobby; now it has become seriously useful.
Russell, at age 57, is asked by a conservation biologist at Arizona State University to observe, collect, and breed Western Red-Bellied Tiger beetles. There are gaps in what is known about them which can only be filled with the help of “amateurs” willing to turn themselves into Citizen Scientists, participants in every kind of project from crawling around in the mud looking for beetle burrows to compiling observations about stardust particles. Russell provides links for many of these projects, like FrogWatch and Galaxy Zoo.
In middle age, she writes, “We need to keep growing brain cells by challenging ourselves to get off the beaten neural pathway. As one scientist said, ‘Crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up.’ Another researcher adds that adult learning should include a ‘disorienting dilemma’ or something that ‘helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired.’”
The book is a great read – detailed, philosophical , even funny.
“Certain aspects of beetle behavior make sense to me – something I would do if I were a beetle. Might I not create an umbrella of leaves and feces and carry it over my head as a screen against predators, like the larvae of the tortoise beetle?”
I like my nature-writers to have a reflective side, to ponder what they observe. Russell is really good at this. Of the western two-tailed swallowtail butterfly she writes
“This is my favorite butterfly. I like its size. I like its design. I like how the males patrol canyons up and down looking for mates and carrion juices, smelling with their feet, seeing with simple eyes on their genitalia. The mix-up of senses is entertaining, but really it’s that beauty passing by, the lazy lift of large yellow wings and glide of grace through interstices of pine. It makes my chest ache. I feel a movement in my ribcage – a lifting, a hollowing. I feel a yearning, whenever I see a Western two-tailed tiger swallowtail, that often shifts to happiness.”
There you go - a great read, the kind of book that makes you put it down and look more closely at the world around you, to pull up one of her links like SciStarter and become a Citizen Scientist yourself.
February 28, 2015
As Reviewed in the Chattanooga Chat, Newsletter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, Chattanooga Chapter
Editors Corner
Diary of a Citizen Scientist: chasing tiger beetles and other new ways of seeing the world
Sharman Apt. Russell
Oregon State University Press
2014
Sharman Russell teaches creative writing at the college level and has authored several books of natural history, with topics ranging from butterflies to flowers to archeology. In her most recent book, Diary of a Citizen Scientist, she documents her efforts to support scientific research, efforts which should sound familiar to birders who have participated in such projects as the Christmas Bird Count, the Rusty Blackbird Blitz, or Project Feeder Watch. Russell presents the material in a format accessible to general readers, who may not be as familiar with the idea of citizen science.
Throughout the book, Russell weaves three narrative threads together into a unified picture of citizen science. She begins with her own research on the Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetle. To this strand, she adds lyrical descriptions of her home and research area in New Mexico. In the third narrative thread she presents descriptions of numerous citizen scientist opportunities.
Opportunities include projects from
Nature’s Notebook, which asks citizen scientists to observe the times when various species of plants come into bloom. Other opportunities are computer based such as Galaxy Zoo, in which participants review telescope photos to classify distant galaxies. Efforts coordinated by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology receive prominent mention.
Russell is quick to point out that citizen science is hard work. It may include hours of tabulating data and confirming results.
Editors Corner
Diary of a Citizen Scientist: chasing tiger beetles and other new ways of seeing the world
Sharman Apt. Russell
Oregon State University Press
2014
Sharman Russell teaches creative writing at the college level and has authored several books of natural history, with topics ranging from butterflies to flowers to archeology. In her most recent book, Diary of a Citizen Scientist, she documents her efforts to support scientific research, efforts which should sound familiar to birders who have participated in such projects as the Christmas Bird Count, the Rusty Blackbird Blitz, or Project Feeder Watch. Russell presents the material in a format accessible to general readers, who may not be as familiar with the idea of citizen science.
Throughout the book, Russell weaves three narrative threads together into a unified picture of citizen science. She begins with her own research on the Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetle. To this strand, she adds lyrical descriptions of her home and research area in New Mexico. In the third narrative thread she presents descriptions of numerous citizen scientist opportunities.
Opportunities include projects from
Nature’s Notebook, which asks citizen scientists to observe the times when various species of plants come into bloom. Other opportunities are computer based such as Galaxy Zoo, in which participants review telescope photos to classify distant galaxies. Efforts coordinated by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology receive prominent mention.
Russell is quick to point out that citizen science is hard work. It may include hours of tabulating data and confirming results.
January 24, 2015
A version of this review first appeared on https://jjawilson.wordpress.com/page/2/.
The bulk of Sharman Apt Russell's wonderful book is made up of diary entries detailing the author's attempts to capture and study tiger beetles, with help from a couple of expert mentors. What if, like me, beetles aren’t your thing? Fortunately, Diary of a Citizen Scientist is full of wit and wisdom and forays into neuroscience and psychology. Even better, the book also offers a portrait of the phenomenon of Citizen Science.
According to Russell's description, citizen scientists are devoted amateurs who spend large chunks of their lives cataloguing galaxies, tracking tree frogs, or identifying fossils from long-dry seas. They range from enthusiastic retirees to schoolchildren to just about every type of person you can think of. Every year, of the 19,000 species newly described, citizen scientists are responsible for 60% of the descriptions.
The information about Citizen Science gives the book heft, the sense of the author joining a movement larger than herself, that will be here and growing long after she’s trapped her last tiger beetle. Several times she quotes a line by a scientist who inspires her: “You could spend a week studying some obscure insect and you would know more than anyone else on the planet.”
Overall, the diary itself is enjoyable, and the wider comments on the Citizen Science movement and the desire that drives amateurs to explore the world so keenly are Russell at her best – heartfelt, probing, lyrical.
The bulk of Sharman Apt Russell's wonderful book is made up of diary entries detailing the author's attempts to capture and study tiger beetles, with help from a couple of expert mentors. What if, like me, beetles aren’t your thing? Fortunately, Diary of a Citizen Scientist is full of wit and wisdom and forays into neuroscience and psychology. Even better, the book also offers a portrait of the phenomenon of Citizen Science.
According to Russell's description, citizen scientists are devoted amateurs who spend large chunks of their lives cataloguing galaxies, tracking tree frogs, or identifying fossils from long-dry seas. They range from enthusiastic retirees to schoolchildren to just about every type of person you can think of. Every year, of the 19,000 species newly described, citizen scientists are responsible for 60% of the descriptions.
The information about Citizen Science gives the book heft, the sense of the author joining a movement larger than herself, that will be here and growing long after she’s trapped her last tiger beetle. Several times she quotes a line by a scientist who inspires her: “You could spend a week studying some obscure insect and you would know more than anyone else on the planet.”
Overall, the diary itself is enjoyable, and the wider comments on the Citizen Science movement and the desire that drives amateurs to explore the world so keenly are Russell at her best – heartfelt, probing, lyrical.
January 18, 2015
Diary of a Citizen Scientist
is about much more than Russell's adventures in citizen science. It's also about engagement with the natural world, transformation, making connections, finding meaning, and following your bliss. In the book, Sharman Apt Russell reminds us of what it means to live fully:
"We all want to be part of something larger. We want to be part of a family, a community, a cause. We want to be part of something meaningful. Studies show that long-term happiness depends on this engagement.”
And then in her distinct voice (lyrical, playful, tender, and personal), she takes the reader along as she finds new purpose in her life. Almost immediately, her engagement with the natural world becomes contagious. Her zen-like moments become your own.
I think a book is labeled a classic when it explores the mysteries and challenges of existence in a way that speaks across generations. I’m no expert but I can’t see how Russell’s book could become anything less than a classic, a book to be read generation after generation. At the very least, this is a book I’ll return to when I need to feel centered. My own personal classic.
"We all want to be part of something larger. We want to be part of a family, a community, a cause. We want to be part of something meaningful. Studies show that long-term happiness depends on this engagement.”
And then in her distinct voice (lyrical, playful, tender, and personal), she takes the reader along as she finds new purpose in her life. Almost immediately, her engagement with the natural world becomes contagious. Her zen-like moments become your own.
I think a book is labeled a classic when it explores the mysteries and challenges of existence in a way that speaks across generations. I’m no expert but I can’t see how Russell’s book could become anything less than a classic, a book to be read generation after generation. At the very least, this is a book I’ll return to when I need to feel centered. My own personal classic.
October 18, 2017
This presents a fun overview of many citizen science projects happening worldwide, from Zooniverse's Galazy Zoo investigations of planetary space to the backyard-oriented Nature's Notebook or Cornell University's eBird project. The narrative takes shape as a journal of the author's field study, primarily tiger beetles in New Mexico. As a child, I was terrified of anything creepy-crawly, and this book opened my mind and heart to the elusive, mysterious tiger beetle. Sharman Russell's prose sings with descriptions of her home habitat, season changes, arrival of rains, wildfires, spring blossoms and many birds and mammals who inhabit the ecosystem. The book dips a toe into archaeological citizen science, and presents fascinating ways that classroom teachers can engage their students with cutting-edge scientific research, even as young as 3rd grade. After reading this, I signed up for the app Nature's Notebook, and started charting the life forms in our own backyard. No tiger beetles here, but plenty of other creatures I'd never taken time to appreciate. A great resource for personal, community-based or classroom science projects.
February 25, 2024
I have now read five books by Sharman Apt Russel, and just like her other four, Diary of a Citizen Scientist offers equal parts education, wisdom, and entertainment. One of my favorite elements of Sharman's work is when she deviates from the direct subject matter, indulging in tangents or semi-related stories which, in the end, make the total work so much richer.
In this book you will learn about citizen science and tiger beetles, yes. But you will also learn a great deal about New Mexico, the Gila River Valley, mountain lions, bears, coatis, and the sacred datura. More still, you will learn a bit about climate change, the importance (and rarity) of rain in arid regions, wildfires (how they are good and bad), the middle-age brain and how it works, motherhood, patience, resilience, and more. In this engaging, delightful read, the pages turn themselves. For anyone looking for a dose of natural science without all that dry, endless expanse of text, I recommend any of Sharman Russel's nonfiction books. She brings the rain!
In this book you will learn about citizen science and tiger beetles, yes. But you will also learn a great deal about New Mexico, the Gila River Valley, mountain lions, bears, coatis, and the sacred datura. More still, you will learn a bit about climate change, the importance (and rarity) of rain in arid regions, wildfires (how they are good and bad), the middle-age brain and how it works, motherhood, patience, resilience, and more. In this engaging, delightful read, the pages turn themselves. For anyone looking for a dose of natural science without all that dry, endless expanse of text, I recommend any of Sharman Russel's nonfiction books. She brings the rain!
November 18, 2025
A book is definitely successful if it impacts your behaviour and this one made me look into some of the citizen science projects presented in it so...well done! I really enjoyed the author's attitude and sense of humour in writing and scientific endeavours. There is a lot of detail about beetles and habitats and that can be a bit dull sometimes, but overall this was well worth reading and I recommend it to anyone who's interested in citizen science.
September 30, 2023
An excellent, though-provoking read that recognises the realities of the world we have created but remains positive about the value of citizen science. Some of the writing is superb. My only reservation is that some of the detail of the tiger beetle study is more detailed than it needs to be to make the relevant points, but that's a personal view.
January 16, 2018
Lovely book, I want anyone interested in science writing to pick this one up
Read
May 21, 2024Tiger beetles. New Mexico. Citizen scientist projects. Beautiful nature writing. Inspiring.
October 8, 2024
Engaging and an important book because it encourages others to become one of the many citizen scientists and are making real contributions to our knowledge.
Read
February 25, 2024When I started this book, I couldn't imagine reading a whole book about Tiger Beetles, but of course it is so much more than that. What's more, by the time I finished I was as enamored with the beetles as her husband and her neighbor who beetle-sat the terrariums. Sharman's enthusiasm and incredibly observant and descriptive writing sucked me in.
Beyond the beetles is the way she made me curious about the land, the world I live in from the grasses in the meadow across the road from my home to the beetles that populate my yard to the names and shapes of the clouds. I appreciated her honesty about how one's aging brain might slow the way we approach new things, and I loved reading how excited third graders can be about digging through dirt to find evidence of plant life or shells. See what I mean? This book dives into the way humans engage with the world. Sharman made me excited about the possibility of being a Citizen Scientist and gave me ideas of all the ways that might look.
Beyond the beetles is the way she made me curious about the land, the world I live in from the grasses in the meadow across the road from my home to the beetles that populate my yard to the names and shapes of the clouds. I appreciated her honesty about how one's aging brain might slow the way we approach new things, and I loved reading how excited third graders can be about digging through dirt to find evidence of plant life or shells. See what I mean? This book dives into the way humans engage with the world. Sharman made me excited about the possibility of being a Citizen Scientist and gave me ideas of all the ways that might look.
December 23, 2014
What is a citizen scientist? An ordinary person with no background in astrophysics, biochemistry, biology, or climatology who volunteers as part of a scientific research project. Why should readers care? Because these passionate volunteers are re-shaping both science and how we know the world, writes Sharman Apt Russell in Diary of a Citizen Scientist:
Russell has always been a thoughtful writer, able to examine issues as diverse as ranching (Kill the Cowboy) and hunger (Hunger: An Unnatural History) with balance and clarity. With Diary of a Citizen Scientist, her most personal book yet, Russell ranges from thoughtful examination to luminous revelation that reads like William Wordsworth or Annie Dillard, the soul shivering with ecstasy:
Diary of a Citizen Scientist is a journey narrative, a chronicle of a search that changes the author along the way. Russell is a 57-year-old writer and teacher of creative writing at the college level when she decides to combat her growing sense of helplessness about the state of the world today by doing something useful. She picks tiger beetles because they are found near her Gila River Valley home, and because while they are widespread across the earth, the basics of their lives remains unknown (like where the burrows their larvae live in are located, and how long it takes the earth-bound larvae to go from egg to winged adult).
Along the way, Russell learns the thrill and tedium of field science, the excitement when something happens; the long hours when the search yields a big fat zero; and the challenges of dissecting tiny beetles, which she realizes are no greater than those of translating her fascination with tiger beetles into the minds of the third-graders who Russell's daughter teaches. Russell learns to speak entomology jargon of setae (bristles) and metanotums (body parts), and comes to understand the point of the quotidian, the mundane work of counting and collecting, taking notes and tallying data.
Most importantly though, Russell learns the power of seeing and understanding the earth at a deeper level, participating in a search for answers that is the ultimate antidote to despair. Diary of a Citizen Scientist is both a journey that transforms Russell and her understanding of herself and the planet she loves, and a clarion call to join a movement:
Sign me up.
by Susan J. Tweit
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
"This is renaissance, your dentist now an authority on butterflies... This is revolution, breaking down the barriers between expert and amateur, with new collaborations across class and education. Pygmy hunters and gatherers use smartphones to document deforestation in the Congo Basin. High school students identify fossils in soils from ancient seas in upstate New York. Do-it-yourself biologists make centrifuges at home. This is falling in love with the world, and this is science, and at the risk of sounding too much the idealist, I have come believe they are the same thing."
Russell has always been a thoughtful writer, able to examine issues as diverse as ranching (Kill the Cowboy) and hunger (Hunger: An Unnatural History) with balance and clarity. With Diary of a Citizen Scientist, her most personal book yet, Russell ranges from thoughtful examination to luminous revelation that reads like William Wordsworth or Annie Dillard, the soul shivering with ecstasy:
"...I feel a joy here. I feel that brightness in the veins, in the chest," Russell writes on her first collecting trip searching for tiger beetles, third-of-an-inch-long carnivores that feed as ferociously as lion packs. "I have a purpose here, surrounded by water, by light. I put down my pack with its bear spray and collecting boxes and sandwich, and I feel light and easy, and I swing my collector's net just a little, like a flag."
Diary of a Citizen Scientist is a journey narrative, a chronicle of a search that changes the author along the way. Russell is a 57-year-old writer and teacher of creative writing at the college level when she decides to combat her growing sense of helplessness about the state of the world today by doing something useful. She picks tiger beetles because they are found near her Gila River Valley home, and because while they are widespread across the earth, the basics of their lives remains unknown (like where the burrows their larvae live in are located, and how long it takes the earth-bound larvae to go from egg to winged adult).
Along the way, Russell learns the thrill and tedium of field science, the excitement when something happens; the long hours when the search yields a big fat zero; and the challenges of dissecting tiny beetles, which she realizes are no greater than those of translating her fascination with tiger beetles into the minds of the third-graders who Russell's daughter teaches. Russell learns to speak entomology jargon of setae (bristles) and metanotums (body parts), and comes to understand the point of the quotidian, the mundane work of counting and collecting, taking notes and tallying data.
Most importantly though, Russell learns the power of seeing and understanding the earth at a deeper level, participating in a search for answers that is the ultimate antidote to despair. Diary of a Citizen Scientist is both a journey that transforms Russell and her understanding of herself and the planet she loves, and a clarion call to join a movement:
"You can transform yourself in a variety of ways... You can do public good—add to scientific knowledge, monitor changes in the environment, promote better policy—even as you roam your private paradise, whatever and wherever that is, collecting treasure and bringing it home: crumbling seed pods, feathers in your hair, clouds in your pocket."
Sign me up.
by Susan J. Tweit
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
March 24, 2015
What sets Sharman Apt Russell's book above many of the other titles in the (surprisingly burgeoning) genre of "citizen science diaries," if you will (The Incidental Steward, for instance), is that she goes both broad and deep. Not only does she sample the desktop projects offered through Zooniverse and SciStarter, she leads a seminar in citizen science projects, picks a patch of ground to study its phenology for Nature's Notebook, and adopts archeological sites as a volunteer monitor of illegal pot hunting activity.
Her deepest plunge is into the world of tiger beetles, which takes her into the field and into her home lab. She learns to collect, dissect, and raise from eggs Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetles (Cicindela sedecimpunctata), distinguished by the pattern of seven spots on their wing covers. Her work led to a published description of two instars from the beetle's larval life cycle.
Russell's prose reveals a wry wit that suggests Annie Dillard. Issued a can of bear repellent for her field work in a National Wildlife Refuge, she reports,
One thing missing, one of my pet peeves: an appendix to provide scientific names for the wide range of organisms she encounters in this slim book.
Beetle fans are a rather singular lot. Russell's book is a rousing encouragement to join them.
Her deepest plunge is into the world of tiger beetles, which takes her into the field and into her home lab. She learns to collect, dissect, and raise from eggs Western Red-bellied Tiger Beetles (Cicindela sedecimpunctata), distinguished by the pattern of seven spots on their wing covers. Her work led to a published description of two instars from the beetle's larval life cycle.
Russell's prose reveals a wry wit that suggests Annie Dillard. Issued a can of bear repellent for her field work in a National Wildlife Refuge, she reports,
The volunteer at the visitor center explains how to use the spray, although I can't imagine having the wherewithal to fumble in my backpack (I've had wrestling matches with my purse that border on domestic violence), get out the can, unlatch the lever, and aim for the eyes. But I listen politely. Cock here. Pull back. Later you can use the bear as a flotation device. (p. 20)
One thing missing, one of my pet peeves: an appendix to provide scientific names for the wide range of organisms she encounters in this slim book.
Beetle fans are a rather singular lot. Russell's book is a rousing encouragement to join them.
November 9, 2014
For Sharman Russell following her bliss is chasing (and capturing, observing, studying, and then reporting on) the fearsome red-bellied Tiger Beetle in her backyard of southwestern New Mexico's Gila Country where she and her husband moved than 20 years ago as "back to the landers." Like her hero John Burroughs she has done so to participate in a transformative revolution to engage the world. To do so, she has had to get out of her chair, get away her computer, and get dirty in an attempt to develop and nurture a personal and intimate relationship with nature. As Russell puts it,she has "fallen in love with the world" in order to become something new. Her book teaches us how to become part of something larger by joining a network of ordinary people around the globe like her who want to participate in scientific study. For her, it's humbling but gratifying work. Russell's prose is always graceful, insightful, and above all loving of her subject matter. Although she has recorded her writing in similar books before, the process of discovery for her is always one of awe and delight.
March 1, 2015
Beautifully written, I felt I was walking along with the author peering at the soil looking for tiny holes with an "instar's" spiky head just inside the opening. Honestly, I learned more about tiger beetles than I ever wanted to know - but this book isn't really about tiger beetles. Russell's book is about ways that we all can get more involved in our world and the creation of new knowledge and understandings with citizen science. Anyone can pop online and find a project - I am going to do so after I finish typing this review. I loved where she shared her experiences sharing projects with other citizen scientists - tracking plant and animal life, watching over archaeological sites, identifying galaXies, and especially the grade school kids having the time of their lives picking through piles of dirt for mammoth bits. Mostly, I like the easy flow of Russell's writing style and plan to find other books of hers to read. I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.
December 8, 2014
I love the passion with which Sharman Apt Russell writes about the natural world, and her love for both it and science, which, she believes, are loving the same thing. Few authors could engage me in reading a book that showcases the tiger beetle, an insect that chases down its prey, and then spews digestive juices all over it, in preparation for dining. The book also discusses the rise of both technology and the "citizen scientist", amateurs excited about birds and stars and budbreaks on trees, etc., who list what they see and when and where they see it, for scientists (and their helpful computers) to chart and study. This author cares about the natural world, and her writing, even about beetles, is exciting and energizing to read. As she points out, as one gets older, there are so many things one realizes one will probably not do...but still, there are so many things one can still do, including becoming a citizen scientist and naturalist.
February 28, 2015
I won this on Goodreads.
When you were young did you ever want to be a scientist, to study the stars, or anthropology, or bugs? Maybe it’s not too late. They’d call you a citizen scientist and evidentially there are hundreds of programs that would love to have your help. In “Diary of a Citizen Scientist Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World” we follow a middle aged, educated woman who wants to help explore the larval stage of the tiger beetle; something that has never been totally explored. In this book we follow Sharman Apt Russell (the author) through the highs, lows, and boring moments that are otherwise known as science. She also gives advice, and resources on you becoming a citizen scientist that don’t involve walking riverbanks with a net trying to catch beetles. All that’s needed is an interest and a little free time.
When you were young did you ever want to be a scientist, to study the stars, or anthropology, or bugs? Maybe it’s not too late. They’d call you a citizen scientist and evidentially there are hundreds of programs that would love to have your help. In “Diary of a Citizen Scientist Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World” we follow a middle aged, educated woman who wants to help explore the larval stage of the tiger beetle; something that has never been totally explored. In this book we follow Sharman Apt Russell (the author) through the highs, lows, and boring moments that are otherwise known as science. She also gives advice, and resources on you becoming a citizen scientist that don’t involve walking riverbanks with a net trying to catch beetles. All that’s needed is an interest and a little free time.
July 27, 2016
Another Sharman Apt Russell gem. Got me curious about my own town and 'what's out there' that I don't know about in its natural spots and the people who do know - which just may be how she wants us to feel :). She writes with connection to people and place, (very cool reading such an intimate account of a natural part of the United States I've never seen) and reading the Appendix to this book just makes you jump for joy for her journey and commitment to tedious details that accompany passions (I won't spoil it anymore than that), and very grateful to her for writing it all out as only Sharman Apt Russell can. Enjoyed every page. All best to her teacher-daughter and those awesome tries getting those squirrelly third-graders doin' some citizen science! Loved those passages in the book as well.
January 3, 2015
We live in an amazing place filled with amazing things, wherever that place happens to be. Author Sharman Apt Russell writes about how the reward of giving our attention to the natural world around us is that we fall in love with it. It feels good to be knowledgeable about something in the world, and it feels right to be curious and to care. As individuals, we don't outgrow the joy of learning and that joy is worth fostering in ourselves and in others. Nice writing style - feels friendly, accessible, encouraging. Recommended by a Goodreads group.
November 7, 2014
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a nice mixture of great information and a fun romp through the southwest with an enthusiastic citizen scientist. I loved the optimism and overall love in the pages. I have already picked out my first citizen scientist program to rekindle my love of nature. Thank you!
May 8, 2016
Excellent treatise that encourages citizen engagement in expanding scientific understanding of our amazingly complex world thru observation and collaboration.
February 7, 2025
2016 John Burroughs Medal award winner
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews