Burns, Loree Griffin

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Burns, Loree Griffin

Personal

Married Gerry Burns; children: three children. Education: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, B.S. (biology); University of Massachusetts, Ph.D. (biochemistry).

Addresses

Home—MA. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Scientist and author.

Awards, Honors

Orbis Pictus Recommended designation, SB & F Prize for Excellence in Science Books finalist, American Library Association Notable Book designation, International Reading Association Children's Book Award designation, and Horn Book Honor Book designation, all 2008, all for Tracking Trash.

Writings

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Motion, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2007.

Sidelights

Drawing on her lifelong love of both science and the men and women who have made it their career, Loree Griffin Burns wrote Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam,and the Science of Motion to introduce young readers to an unusual scientist. An oceanographer, Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer studies the path that lost or discarded manmade items take after falling into the world's waterways. Ebbesmeyer's study of this flotsam—which encompasses such amazing things as sneakers and LEGO pieces and the thousands of rubber ducks that were swept overboard and left to float from the Pacific all the way through the Arctic and into the Atlantic Ocean—joins several others in generating the data that has helped marine biologists safeguard fragile habitats and protect seagoing creatures from the threats posed by unnatural objects. Burns illustrates Tracking Trash with numerous photographs that help bring to life Ebbesmeyer's work and also inspire interest in young readers.

In his review of Tracking Trash for the New York Times Book Review, Hank Green wrote that Burns' book features "scientists doing science," but with "a bit of detective novel thrown in as well." In Booklist Carolyn Phelan noted the inclusion of a comprehensive glossary and notes, a section titled "What You Can Do," and a list of study resources, called Tracking Trash "a unique and often fascinating book on ocean currents, drifting trash, and the scientists who study them." Praising the author's "well-written narration," Esther Keller added in School Library Journal that the book "will get readers thinking and possibly acting" on the problem of ocean pollution. Burns grounds her text with what Horn Book critic Betty Carter described as "solid scientific explanations" which include terms such as "charting, latitude and longitude, currents, waves, tides, and gyres." Tracking Trash is part of the "Scientists in the Field" series, an award-winning group of books that seeks to inspire an interest in pursuing scientific careers.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Audubon, May-June, 2007, Julie Leibach, review of Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Motion, p. 94.

Booklist, April 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of Tracking Trash, p. 38.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 2007, Elizabeth Bush, review of Tracking Trash, p. 362.

Horn Book, March-April, 2007, Betty Carter, review of Tracking Trash, p. 211.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2007, review of Tracking Trash, p. 217.

New York Times Book Review, October 14, 2007, Hank Green, "Notes on a Sick Planet."

School Library Journal, December, 2007, Kathleen Baxter, review of Tracking Trash, p. 28.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2007, Michele Winship, review of Tracking Trash, p. 550.

Wildlife Conservation, July-August, 2007, review of Tracking Trash.

ONLINE

Loree Griffin Burns Home Page,http://www.loreeburns.com (September 15, 2008).