Breaking the Mold: Changing the Face of Climate Science (Books for a Better Earth)

Detailing the bias that can make scientific fields “uncomfortable or unwelcoming for many LGBTQ+, disabled, and non-white” professionals, Levy (Above All Else) offers up a career-spanning compendium positioned as profiling 16 climate scientists who “defy stereotypes of who can be a scientist.” Chapters acquaint readers with each figure on a first-name basis, complete with advice, personal stories, and snapshots of interviewees. Black U.S. meteorologist Marshall Shepherd describes a career in atmospheric science, including at NASA; queer environmental scientist Devyani Singh, who grew up in the Indian Himalayas, discusses blending climate research with science-policy activism; and Indigenous Hawaiian analytical chemist and surfer Cliff Kapano talks collecting and analyzing microbial specimens. Anecdotal tellings also interweave personal experiences. Rocío Paola Caballero-Gill, raised in Peru, discusses how a diagnosis of Myasthenia gravis put her on a path to mentorship; Daniel Palacios of Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute recalls growing up gay in Bogotá; and nonbinary U.S. biologist Lila Leatherman discusses the isolation of feeling unable to share one’s full identity. Sidebars provide additional information, including definitions of identity-related and scientific terms. Levy persuasively argues for inclusion, arming readers with critical thinking skills and positive representations of intersectionally diverse innovators: “If you feel like you don’t fit the picture of a scientist, that doesn’t mean you’re wrong. It means the picture is.” A bibliography concludes. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)