Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World

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.

I have read previously Ms. Russell’s work An Obsession with Butterflies and loved it immensely. I thought this one would be more of the same, but I cannot even manage to get through it. Apparently, for her, Tiger Beetles are not all that interesting as she continually diverges from topic on a wide variety of “rabbit trails” that keeps me guessing where she is going with all this. While some may find this style of writing winsome, I do not. I wanted to love this book but I cannot even say I like it enough to finish it.

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.

Beetles!? Not necessarily a subject of interest to me. But this reader moved beyond the little darlings to the diarist's wit. The weaving of the author's life - it was a diary- with interesting facts and details about the world shared and surrounding us is an entertaining and educational read. I've been trying to decide if there's an obscure bug I too would like to chase down as the author reports a week's worth of study would likely make a citizen scientist the most knowledgeable on the earth. I might be better chasing down the surviving Beatles, but what the author does achieve is making readers more aware of the sounds and movements around us through her beautiful writing and wit.If the author was chasing down the remaining Beatles that would h

This is the fifth of Sharman Apt Russell's books that I've read, and it felt like a reacquaintance with an old friend. Sharman writes with an earthy honesty about her fascinations and her long relationship with a special place, the Gila. Her sintax rings with a high-desert simplicity, telling us how "we look at the mirror of nature and see ourselves, all that meaning and beauty, horror and brutality."I was especially pleased to learn how citizen science adds to Sharman's panthiest, butterfly-obsessed journey through life, since it reflects my own recent forays into citizen science. (Albeit mine are with diurnal raptors rather than tiger beetles.) It has reminded me that I ought to look down every now and again while out in the natural world.

The writing places the reader in the scene and in the moment. Full of information and excitement, this book is a challenge to get out there and really start looking at the wild. It is a five-star book marred, in the Kindle version by too many typos or maybe predictive text errors. Pity! But reading about an insect's labial "pulps" both made me laugh and distracted me from the narrative about valuable citizen science.