My first book of illustrated prose, The Forgotten Teachers: How Nature Wrote the Story of Life is now available (Enchanted Lion Books: Unruly). The book was created in collaboration with artist and deep thinker, Claudia Biçen.

STARRED REVIEW! ★ “A luminous and lyrical blend of science, spirituality, and environmental advocacy, this visually stunning title invites readers to reconsider nature as a source of profound wisdom.” —School Library Journal

The Forgotten Teachers will be a Kirkus Reviews 2025 Fall Preview selection.
“Crossing arbitrary divisions between art and science, the book closes by asking readers, ‘What story will you choose to tell?'” —Kirkus Reviews.

“Scientific storytelling and surreal art encourage respect for life and its origins in this reverential illustrated work.” —Publishers Weekly

The Forgotten Teachers charts the evolution of life on Earth under the mentorship of six ancient teachers: Ocean, Air, Theia, Sun, Plants, and Symbionts. Ideas from the fields of neuroscience and evolutionary biology, accompanied by watercolor illustrations by Claudia Biçen, guide this factual yet mytho-poetic exploration of a story connecting all of life.

As a biologist, I have studied how mice use their whiskers to sense shapes and mapped neural circuits in the brain involved with Parkinson’s Disease. I’ve even listened in on the conversations of electric fish, and chemical signals of immune cells fighting cancer. A number of these scientific journeys have appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and many more, I am sure, lie ahead.