About

I want to see, record, and understand the world around me as it unfolds.

I want to know how we are moved by the places we find ourselves. When we experience a place, how do we change it? How does it change us?

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 have taught workshops that combine drawing, painting, and natural science at the past four Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conferences, as well as up and down the Pacific Coast.

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

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

Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, 2024
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, UC Davis, 2024
Art Toolkit Winter Workshop, 2024
The Whale Museum Marine Naturalist Training Program, 2021-2024
Art Toolkit Live Demo, 2023
Orcas Island Library & Friends of the San Juans, 2023
UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, 2023
Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference, 2020-2023
Botanical Artists’ Guild of Southern California, 2020 & 2022
John Muir Laws’ Nature Journal Workshop, 2020 & 2022
Tuleyome Certified California Naturalist Program, 2018 & 2023

TEACHING: CHILDREN

Davis Waldorf School, Weekly Art and Natural Science Lesson, 2023-2024
Tuleyome Spring Thing, Nature Journaling, 2023 & 2024
Yolo County Library Branches, Nature Journaling, 2023
Davis Forest School, Nature Journaling, 2019-2020

PRESENTATIONS AND INTERVIEWS

Nature Nerds, Findout Farms, 2023
Willits Environmental Center, 2023
Putah Creek Council Creekspeak, 2023
Sierra Writers’ Conference, 2023
Tuleyome: Nature & You, 2023
Mary L. Stephens—Davis Branch Library, 2023
Talaterra Podcast, 2022
Outdoor Minimalist Podcast, 2022
Winters Friends of the Library, 2022
Golden State Naturalist Podcast, 2022
Avid Reader Bookstore, Davis, 2022
Journaling With Nature Podcast, 2020 & 2022
The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, 2022
Upfront, KPFA Berkeley, 2022
Alta Journal Live, 2022
Henry Miller Library, Big Sur, 2022
Enthusiasms with Chris Desser, KWMR Point Reyes, 2022
The Da Vinci Pursuit: Intersections—Where Art & Science Meet, 2022
A Big Sur Podcast, 2022
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

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