Robin Lee Carlson

About

I am an author and natural science illustrator, building careful observations of the natural world into deeper commentary on ecology and climate change. My work centers on field sketching ecoreportage, living documentation of the ever-accelerating transformation of ecosystems by human activity. My first book, The Cold Canyon Fire Journals, was published in 2022 by Heyday and my work has also appeared in The Common, the literary journal of Amherst College, and in Arnoldia, the magazine of the Harvard University Arboretum. I teach workshops to both adults and children that combine drawing, painting, and natural science.

I am one of the 2024-2026 recipients of the Fireline Fellowship, part of the Long-Term Ecological Reflections Program in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon.

Curriculum Vitae

Robin Lee Carlson Illustration
Natural Science Illustrator, 2017 to present

  • California Department of Transportation
  • University of California, Davis Natural Reserves
  • California Wilderness Coalition
  • The Fire Writers
  • Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
Program Manager, 2000 to 2017

California Academy of Sciences
Geographic Information Systems Specialist, 2004 to 2005

EDUCATION

University of Chicago, MS in Organismal Biology and Anatomy, 2000
University of California, Santa Cruz, BA in Organismal Biology and in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, 1997

PUBLICATIONS

Books

  • Carlson, RL 2022. The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes. Berkeley: Heyday.
  • Gailey, A and Farish S. 2019. ODE: Orcas Island. Eastsound: St. Ode Press.

Essays

  • Carlson, RL 2022. Reading the Ashes. The Common, Issue 24.
  • Carlson, RL 2022. Oak and Pine in Life and Death. Arnoldia, Vol. 79, Issue 4.

Articles

  • Why is Fish Passage Barrier Removal Important? California Fish Passage Forum Website (cafishpassageforum.org), December 2014.
  • Optimizing Fish Passage Barrier Removal in California While Considering Climate Change Effects, a white paper published by the California Fish Passage Forum, April 2014.
  • Koller M, Shannon C, Christy T, Carlson R, Haney E and Allen S. 2008. National Hydrography Dataset-Based Modeling of Stream Habitat Fragmentation and Steelhead Distribution in California Anadromous Watersheds. Water Resources Impact 10 (1), 10.
  • Allen S, Thomson C and Carlson R, co-editors. 2004. Proceedings of the Salmon Habitat Cost Workshop.
  • Carlson R and Allen S. 2001. California Habitat Restoration Project Database: An Overview of California Klamath Basin Data. Proceedings of the 2001 Klamath Basin Fish & Water Management Symposium.
  • McClintock J, Carlson R, Mann D and Prince VE. 2001. Consequences of Hox Gene Duplication in the Vertebrates: An Investigation of the Zebrafish Hox Paralogue Group 1 Genes. Development 128, 2471.

TEACHING: ADULTS

  • California Oak Discovery Day—Nature Journal Fire in an Oak Woodland (2025)
  • Wild Wonder Sierra Nevada Nature Journaling Retreat (2025)
  • The daVinci Pursuit (2025)—Field Sketching Pollinators (2 part series)
  • Art Toolkit Spring Workshop (2025)—Pollinators in Ink
  • The daVinci Pursuit (2025)—Field Sketching Galls (2 part series)
  • Orcas Island Library & Friends of the San Juans (2024, 2025)—Field Sketching Workshop
  • Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, UC Davis (2024, 2025)—Nature Journaling Wildflowers
  • Tuleyome Certified California Naturalist Program (2023, 2025)—Field Sketching for Naturalists
  • The Whale Museum Marine Naturalist Training Program (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)—Journaling Salmon and Their Habitat
  • The daVinci Pursuit (2024)—A Guide to Sketching in the Field: Examples from a Study of Wildfire
  • Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference (2024)—Painting Textures, Fast and Slow
  • Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (2024)—Nature Journaling and Bird Sketching
  • Art Toolkit Winter Workshop (2024)—Nature Journaling: Illustrate Stories of the Dynamic World Around You
  • Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference (2023)—A Celebration of Scavengers and Decomposers
  • Art Toolkit Live Demo (2023)—Field Sketching and Observation
  • Orcas Island Library & Friends of the San Juans (2023)—Book Talk and Nature Journaling
  • UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (2023)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Using Art to Document Environmental Change
  • Botanical Artists’ Guild of Southern California (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals and Drawing Demonstration
  • Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference (2022)—Where the Light Isn’t: Telling Stories with Shadows
  • John Muir Laws’ Nature Journal Workshop (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference (2021)—Lively and Expressive Field Sketching in Brush Pen and Watercolor
  • Botanical Artists’ Guild of Southern California (2020)—Ecoreportage and Documenting Wildfire
  • Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference (2020)—Ecoreportage: Fire Ecology and How to Draw a Changing Landscape
  • John Muir Laws’ Nature Journal Workshop (2020)—Wildfire Journaling
  • Tuleyome Certified California Naturalist Program (2018)—Field Sketching for Naturalists

TEACHING: CHILDREN

  • California Oak Discovery Day—Nature Journal Fire in an Oak Woodland (2025)
  • Orcas Island Library & Friends of the San Juans (2024, 2025)—Field Sketching Workshop
  • Davis Waldorf School (2023, 2024, 2025)—Weekly Art and Natural Science Lesson
  • Tuleyome Spring Thing (2023, 2024)—Nature Journaling
  • Yolo County Library Branches (2023)—Nature Journaling Pollinators
  • Davis Forest School (2019, 2020)—Nature Journaling

PRESENTATIONS AND INTERVIEWS

  • Beers Books, Sacramento (2024)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals (in conversation with Michelle Fullner, host of The Golden State Naturalist Podcast)
  • The Nature Journal Show (2024)—Painting Texture with Robin Lee Carlson
  • The Common Podcast (2023)—Robin Lee Carlson on “Reading the Ashes”
  • Nature Nerds, Findout Farms (2023)—Better Than Chocolate: Scavengers and Their Stinky Secrets
  • Willits Environmental Center (2023)—Book Talk and Nature Hike
  • Putah Creek Council Creekspeak (2023)—Book Talk
  • Sierra Writers’ Conference (2023)—Author Talk and Writing Workshop
  • Tuleyome: Nature & You (2023)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Mary L. Stephens—Davis Branch Library (2023)—Book Talk and Nature Journaling Workshop
  • Talaterra Podcast (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Understanding Wildfires
  • Outdoor Minimalist Podcast (2022)—The Environmental Impact of Wildfires
  • Winters Friends of the Library (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Golden State Naturalist Podcast (2022)—Fire Ecology
  • Avid Reader Bookstore, Davis (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Journaling With Nature Podcast (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Upfront, KPFA Berkeley (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Alta Journal Live (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Henry Miller Library, Big Sur (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • Enthusiasms with Chris Desser, KWMR Point Reyes (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • The Da Vinci Pursuit: Intersections—Where Art & Science Meet (2022)—Fire Ecology: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes
  • A Big Sur Podcast (2022)—The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
  • The Nature Journal Show (2021)—Climate Change and Nature Journaling
  • The Nature Journal Show (2021)—Nature Journaling Ecosystem Change
  • Journaling With Nature Podcast (2020)—Fire Ecology and the Changing Landscape
  • American Fisheries Society, California-Nevada Chapter Meeting (2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011)
  • Salmonid Restoration Federation Annual Conference (2004, 2006, 2011)
  • Organization of Fish and Wildlife Information Managers Annual Conference (2002-2012)

BOARDS OF DIRECTORS

  • Pamela Trokanski Dance Theatre: Treasurer, 2014-present
  • Guild of Natural Science Illustrators: Treasurer, 2020-2024
  • Davis Waldorf School: Secretary, 2020-2024
  • Organization of Fish and Wildlife Information Managers: President, 2007-2009