Peggy Macnamara – illustratör

Peregrine falcons have their share of claims to fame. With a diving speed of over two hundred miles per hour, these birds of prey are the fastest animals on earth or in the sky, and they are now well known for adapting from life on rocky cliffs to a different kind of mountain: modern skyscrapers. But adaptability only helps so much. In 1951, there were no peregrines left in Illinois, and it looked as if the species would be wiped out entirely in North America. Today, however, peregrines are flourishing. In The Peregrine Returns, Mary Hennen gives wings to this extraordinary conservation success story. Drawing on the beautiful watercolors of Field Museum artist-in-residence Peggy Macnamara and photos by Field Museum research assistant Stephanie Ware, as well as her own decades of work with peregrines, Hennen focuses her tale on Illinois's Chicago Peregrine Program, a collaboration between researchers and citizen scientists.She follows the journey of Illinois's peregrines from their devastating decline to the discovery of its cause (a thinning of eggshells caused by a byproduct of DDT), through to recovery, revealing how the urban landscape has played an essential role in enabling falcons to return to the wild and how people are now learning to live in close proximity to these captivating raptors. Both a model for conservation programs across the country and an eye-opening look at the many creatures with which we share our homes, this richly illustrated story of the Chicago Peregrine Program is an inspiring example of how urban architecture can serve not only our cities' human inhabitants, but also their wild ones.

An octopus expert and celebrated artist offer a deep dive to meet the enchanting inhabitants of the world's marine ecosystems. Have you ever walked along the beach and wondered what kind of creatures can be found beneath the waves? Have you pictured what it would be like to see the ocean not from the shore, but from its depths? These questions drive Janet Voight, an expert on mollusks who has explored the seas in the submersible Alivn that can dive some 14,000 feet below the water's surface. In this book, she partners with artist Peggy Macnamara to invite readers to share her undersea journeys of discovery.With accessible scientific description, Voight introduces the animals that inhabit rocky and sandy shores, explains the fragility of coral reefs, and honors the extraordinary creatures that must search for food in the ocean's depths, where light and heat are rare. These fascinating insights are accompanied by Macnamara's stunning watercolors, illuminating these ecosystems and other scenes from Voight's research. Together, they show connections between life at every depth-and warn of the threats these beguiling places and their eccentric denizens face.