I had the idea for The Elm Hunters while working my way through many children’s books, reading them to my first born. The book just wrote itself in my head.
The Treescapes Fellowship encouraged learning outside your immediate academic specialism and delivery of interdisciplinary outputs. As well as learning about genetics, I decided to write a children’s book about wych elm and Dutch elm disease. I want young children to learn about these relationships in nature and encourage an early interest in tree management conservation. I believe embedding and showcasing these issues at a key age of learning – nursery to mid-primary – can encourage people to become citizen scientists, and perhaps even to pursue a career in conservation, helping species survive and thrive in healthy ecosystems.
An electronic copy of The Elm Hunters should be available to download for free shortly. If you’d like to register your interest in the meantime, please get in touch.