About the Author and Illustrator of GROUPER MOON |
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 Cynthia Shaw |
The daughter of a U.S. Navy
officer, Cynthia Shaw spent her formative years in Florida and the
Caribbean. The setting of Grouper Moon was inspired in large part by
memories of her childhood years spent getting into mischief of one sort or
another at Macqueripe Beach on the island of Trinidad.
Cynthia received a bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of Hawaii-Manoa in 1980. An avid scuba diver and underwater photographer for well over 25 years, Cynthia first became involved in marine science education when her first son started school in 1983; she has been developing and teaching ancillary science educational programs ever since. She enjoys museum exhibit work, and most recently illustrated a geology textbook for McGraw-Hill. Cynthia also holds a master's degree in Education from Washington State University; her educational interests lie in problem-based learning, science and literature connections, and using scientific illustration techniques as tools for teaching and learning in science classrooms. She presents lively classroom and teacher workshops that combine science, art and writing, and is available for author/illustrator school visits. In addition to being a dyed-in-the-wool geology buff, Cynthia's interests include hiking and field sketching (usually rocky stuff); she loves natural history museums, art and music of almost any kind; and spending time with good friends and family. She and her husband, Karl Pitts, a scientist, live in Richland, Washington. Together they have seven children, ranging from 9 to 24 years old. |
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