About Susan Cerulean

Writer, naturalist and activist Susan Cerulean’s nature memoir Coming to Pass: Florida’s Coastal Islands in a Gulf of Change (University of Georgia Press, 2015) received a Gold Medal in the category of Florida Nonfiction by the Florida Book Awards.  Her previous book, Tracking Desire: A Journey After Swallow-tailed Kites (University of Georgia Press, 2005) was named Editors’ Choice by Audubon magazine (March 2005).

Cerulean directed the Red Hills Writers Project between 2004 and 2011, and edited Unspoiled: Writers Speak for Florida’s Coast, with Janisse Ray and A. James Wohlpart, in 2010. Unspoiled alerted Floridians to perils of oil drilling in the Gulf (and sold nearly 10,000 copies). With Janisse Ray and Laura Newton, she also edited Between Two Rivers: Stories from the Red Hills to the Gulf (RHWP, 2004). This locally-acclaimed anthology brought together personal essays written by 29 of the area’s foremost writers and naturalists.

In March 2009, she was honored by Tallahassee Community College as one of the “Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet.”

Cerulean has written and advocated on behalf of Florida and its wildlife from her home in Tallahassee since 1981. She is a founding board member of Heart of the Earth and the Red Hills Writers Project. She designed the States Nongame and Watchable Wildlife Programs, and was named Environmental Educator of the year by the Governors Council for a Sustainable Florida in 1997.

Susan Cerulean lives in Tallahassee Florida with her husband, oceanographer and climate scientist Dr. Jeffrey Chanton. They have three grown sons.

Awards

Gold Medal, Florida Nonfiction, Florida Books Awards (2015)    
Editor’s Choice, Audubon Magazine for Tracking Desire (2005)
Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club Indigo Award, 2005
Writer in Residence, Hedgebrook, 2001 and 2011 (Langley, Washington,)
Governor’s Environmental Education Award, 1997
Fellow, Teller Environmental Writing Institute, 1994

Recent venues for talks and classes

Tall Timbers Research Station, (The Florida Wildlife Corridor Project)
North American Cartographic Information Society, St. Petersburg, Florida (Keynote)
Little St. Simon’s Island Naturalist Series, Brunswick, Georgia (Keynote)
Florida Humanities Council Annual Everglades Gathering (Keynote)
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Florida State University (instructor)
Scripps Howard Environmental Writers Lecture Series, Florida Atlantic University
Florida Studies Program, University of South Florida, 2008 Visiting Writer
Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education, Florida Gulf Coast University
Oxbow Eco-Center Saturday Lecture Series, Port St. Lucie New College, Sarasota, 2004-2007 Visiting Instructor
Trust for Public Lands, FSU College of Law, Tallahassee
Writing the Region Conference, Gainesville, Florida (Instructor)
Society for Ecological Restoration
Eckerd College, St. Petersburg
Atlanta Botanical Gardens
Amelia Island Book Festival
Miami Book Festival
St. Petersburg Times Festival of the Book
Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival
Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival
Wakulla Springs Birding and Wildlife Festival
St. Joe Bay Buffer Preserve
Brooker Creek Nature Preserve, Tarpon Springs Florida
The Studio@621 Gallery, St. Petersburg
Literacy Volunteers of Leon County
Moccasin Lake Nature Park, St. Petersburg, Florida
Alachua Audubon Society, Gainesville, Florida
Apalachee Audubon Society, Tallahassee, Florida
Clearwater Audubon Society, Clearwater, Florida
Numerous churches, bookstores, public radio programs and public libraries

Education

1982. Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
1974. Biology, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida

Professional Memberships

Board of Trustees, Florida Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (2004-2007)
Board of Directors, Avian Research and Conservation Institute
Founding Member, Heart of the Earth Council (1999-present)
Tallahassee Area Threshold Choir (2013-present)