Be a part of a live, interactive conversation with author Jonathan C. Slaght as he discusses his latest book, Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl, in which a field scientist and conservationist tracks the elusive Blakiston's Fish Owl in the forbidding reaches of eastern Russia (on sale August 4, 2020).

When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts. That first sighting set his calling as a scientist. Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. Through this rare glimpse into the everyday life of a field scientist and conservationist, Owls of the Eastern Ice testifies to the determination and creativity essential to scientific advancement and serves as a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.

Jonathan C. Slaght is the Russia and Northeast Asia coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he manages research projects on endangered species and coordinates avian conservation activities along the East Asia–Australasian Flyway from the Arctic to the tropics. His annotated translation of Across the Ussuri Kray, by Vladimir Arsenyev, was published in 2016, and his work has been featured by The New York Times, The Guardian, the BBC World Service, NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, and Audubon magazine, among others. He lives in Minneapolis.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of her books from one of our local independent bookstores, Browseabout Books and biblion. Call-in orders are accepted at Browseabout and biblion or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit the websites. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.

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