The Shell Seeker: A Family Evening with Juli Berwald

Bring the whole family down to the beach without ever leaving Hyde Park. Ocean scientist and author Juli Berwald joins us to explore the hidden world inside a seashell, from the giant Australian trumpet to the tiniest speck of a shell you could ever hope to find on a shoreline. Adults and young readers alike are invited to get curious about the ocean's strangest, most beautiful architecture.

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Thursday, August 20 @ 6:00 PM, First Light Books, 4300 Speedway, Free (but RSVP encouraged)

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About the evening

Juli will lead a lively, family friendly talk about shells, the creatures who build them, and the surprising science hiding inside their spirals and ridges. Expect stories about camouflage, bioluminescence, and shells so big they seem impossible, all told with the kind of wonder that makes this a great first science talk for young readers. Come with your questions and your favorite shell finds, if you'd like!

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About the book

The Shell Seeker is an illustrated guide to thirty of the ocean's most remarkable shells, built around a spinning wheel set right into the cover. Spin it to land on a shell, then flip to its page for the full story: where it lives, how big it gets, and what makes it one of a kind. From the Queen Conch to the Lightning Whelk, the book gathers shells from shorelines around the world and brings their colors and patterns to life for beachcombers, tide pool explorers, and anyone who has ever picked up a shell and wondered about the creature who once called it home.

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About the author

​Juli Berwald, Ph.D. is an ocean scientist and author based in Austin. She is the author of The Shell Seeker, along with Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs, a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize, and Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone, winner of an Indie Choice Award. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic, Texas Monthly, The New York Times, and more. She is the founder and president of Tela Coral, a non-profit working to protect and understand some of the rarest coral in the Caribbean.

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