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The Year in a Writer’s Life – 2017

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David J Kent, WriterThe writing life has kept me busy this past year. In fact, 2017 rivaled 2016 in productivity, especially given I took two long overseas trips (South Korea/China and Australia/New Zealand). [Did you know there are no monkeys in Australia?] In any case, these and past travels may end up in books some day. While traveling, I took advantage of long flights and sporadic internet access to get in some serious writing.

Last year I mentioned that, in addition to my Edison book hitting stores, I was working on a new book. Well, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America came out in August and has been doing very well in Barnes and Noble stores nationwide. Reception from the public and other Lincoln scholars has been very positive and heartwarming, so I’ve been busy with book launch activities, including presentations at the DC Historical Society and the Lincoln Group of DC. [I’ve also just been voted onto the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute]

The writing continues. I have not one, but two, books in progress. One is an “accessible scholarly” book on Lincoln’s interest in technology; the other a travel memoir in the style of Bill Bryson, but with more science. And because that isn’t enough, in January I’ll be formally proposing a book in which members of the Lincoln Group of DC will contribute chapters. Stay tuned.

Book header new crop

My previous books are also doing well. My Edison book is now apparently sold out at Barnes and Noble so I’m expecting a new printing in early 2018 (as well as one for Lincoln). I’ve already seen a Dutch translation (and now German) of Edison and expect others shortly. Even better news – my Tesla book is now into its 8th printing! It too has a Dutch translation, as well as German, Spanish, and now Czech. There may be others, so if you see a translation not listed please post a picture on my Facebook author page.

But there’s more. I wrote hundreds of blog posts here on Science Traveler (my official author page) as well as Hot White Snow (creative writing) and The Dake Page (science communication). I was also asked by the Chesapeake and Potomac Regional Chapter of SETAC to contribute an article on science communication for their fall newsletter. And I continue to write two book reviews per issue for the Lincoln Group of DC’s quarterly, The Lincolnian.

Like all good writers, I read a lot. This year I have read 116 books, surpassing last year’s total of 106 (which surpassed the previous year’s 96). I confess that I may actually cut back slightly in 2018 as I’m anticipating a heavy travel and writing year. We’ll see.

My mantra for 2018 is to Write!, Write!, Write!

Which reminds me, I’m off to write.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Year in Science Traveling – 2017

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Sometimes Science Traveling takes me to distant lands and cultures, and sometimes it takes me closer to my own culture. This year was a little of both. I only took two major trips out of the country, but whoa, were they major. No more significant travel in the last twelve days of 2017, so here’s a recap.

First, the big trips.

Seoul, South Korea

In May I flew to South Korea. Mostly there weren’t any missiles flying while I was on the ground (there were just before and after), so I was able to move around without much difficulty. After landing in Seoul I immediately hopped a train to Busan on the southeast coast. After a few days there I headed back to Seoul and even took a day trip up into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). An interesting experience to say the least. Even Seoul offered some excitement as I was there on election day; they were voting to replace the president who had been impeached (and who days before had been arrested for corruption). And yes, I took notes.

Nine Dragon Wall, Beijing, China

From South Korea I flew to Beijing. I’ve been there a couple of times before so had already seen the usual tourist traps. This time the temperature hit 100 degrees F to offset the first time I was there when it was -5 F. I checked out some local areas and visited the Bell and Drum Towers. Vladimir Putin and about 30 other world leaders were in town for a One Belt, One Road Summit, so the air was bright and clear (they close down the factories and ban cars). On the flip side, the Forbidden City was closed for a private tour of all the first ladies and every version of military uniform possible was parading the streets.

The next big trip was in October to Australia and New Zealand. First to Sydney (the famous bridge, the even more famous Opera House, and the at least locally famous Bondi Beach), then up to Cairns (Great Barrier Reef), then to Queenstown, New Zealand (fjord cruising), then back to Australia for Melbourne (12 Apostles), and finally up to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). Day trips included hiking the Blue Mountains, checking out three different aquariums, and chasing the Lord of the Rings through the mountains of New Zealand. A trip of a lifetime.

Mt. Rushmore

The rest of the year was spent on less adventurous trips. I attended the annual CPRC meeting in Annapolis (where I also went kayaking on a separate trip), the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, and then two trips up to Massachusetts (July and November). I also got to hang out with Abraham Lincoln (George Buss) and Teddy Roosevelt (Joe Wiegand). In fact, both men twice. In February they were joined by actors playing George Washington and Thomas Jefferson for a “Mt. Rushmore” night at the National Archives. Joe reprised his role for the Lincoln Group of DC in October with a tribute to Abraham Lincoln; George played Lincoln at the Gettysburg cemetery commemoration in November.

Overall there were fewer trips this year, but to farther places. I only managed to get to three new countries, which brings the total to something like 45 depending on how you count. If things work out the way I’m anticipating, next year could add up to eight, or even more, new countries visited. Now how do I get to Antarctica? Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Year in a Writer’s Life – 2016

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The WriterAfter writing hundreds of thousands of words it is safe to say that 2016 was a productive year. To recap the highlights:

As I write this I’m doing the final citations on Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America for Fall River Press of Sterling Publishing. The book will be released in late July of 2017. The opportunity to write the book came about through a combination of luck and the success of my previous books. My Sterling editor approached my literary agent with an idea: because Tesla and Edison were doing well, the publisher wanted to start a similar series on historical figures. First up was Alexander Hamilton (the Broadway musical has everyone all atwitter about this otherwise little-known early politician) and Abraham Lincoln. Did my agent know anyone who might be interested?

Given that I had already provided my agent with an early draft of a proposal for a Lincoln-related book, she immediately contacted me. After convincing my editor that my lifetime of independent Lincoln studies showed I knew as much (and more) about Lincoln than I did about Tesla/Edison. I got the project. Look for it next summer. Here is an early version of the prologue to give you a flavor.

Of course, I also had a book come out in stores this year. As noted in last year’s update, my big writing project last year was Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (again for Fall River/Sterling). The book was released officially in late July 2016, though to be honest, it wasn’t put on display until months later because of Barnes and Noble’s bizarre promotion of “adult coloring books.” Now that it finally is being displayed its sales are doing well.

Meanwhile, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity is into its 7th printing and has been translated into several languages. The book continues to be a huge success.

Phew. That’s already a rather busy writing year, but to this I added hundreds of blog posts on Science Traveler, Hot White Snow, and The Dake Page, not to mention way too much time writing long discussions about climate change on sites such as Facebook.

But wait, there’s more. I also contributed to the CPRC newsletter (science) and began a recurring book review column in the Lincolnian, the quarterly newsletter of the Lincoln Group of DC. During the year I also gave a short presentation on the group’s “Looking for Lincoln in Illinois” trip.

Oh, and somehow I found time to read 107 books, 27 of which were related to Abraham Lincoln and from which I took copious notes.

So by anyone’s standards this was a busy writing year. I also had a busy year traveling, which I summarized in my year-end “Year in Science Traveling” post.

And 2017 looks like it will be more of the same.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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Photo Credit: Ru Sun

[Daily Post]

 

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The Year in Science Traveling – 2016

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My third year of science traveling ended up being a lot different in execution than it was in design. Trips planned were dropped, trips not planned were added, and I was forced to work around an unforeseen distraction. And yet I still managed to hit several new countries, at least one new state, and enjoyed what most would consider a very good year in Science Traveling. I’m finished traveling for the year so it’s time for a quick recap.

February: My first travel ran from January 29 through February 6, which entailed flying to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten and boarding a large sailing yacht for a week-long journey around several sub-tropical islands. Highlights included the most interesting airport landing in the world, boarding a yellow submarine in St. Barts, and exploring the land of the frigates in Barbuda.

April: Spring saw my first trip ever to Springfield, Illinois, but it wouldn’t be my last this year (see September). I spent a hugely productive two days chasing the Papers of Abraham Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Later in the month I drove to Charlottesville in southern Virginia to check out Thomas Jefferson’s home and attend the annual CPRC scientific meeting.

May: Spring also saw my first time in San Antonio, Texas. The city offered a wonderful river walk, great food, and the Alamo. From there we drove cross state and went underground – literally – to see the amazing bats and birds of Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico.

July: In early July I met the Crown Prince and Princess of Serbia. This was as part of a grand tour of Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia, with quick stops in Amsterdam and Frankfurt on the way there and back again.

September: After undergoing major eye surgery in August, by the end of September I was ready to get out of the house. This trip took me back out to Springfield, Illinois and surrounding area where, along with 20 others from the Lincoln Group of DC, I went Looking for Lincoln (See Part I and Part II for quick summaries). The total immersion in Lincoln’s life was a fantastic experience for this particular Lincoln buff.

November: The fall saw my now annual trek up to Gettysburg for a meeting of the Lincoln Forum, one of the preeminent Abraham Lincoln societies in the country. I got to meet up with a new old friend, Abraham Lincoln himself (compliments of George Buss). A week later I drove up to visit family in my old home town, a trip I had delayed from my usual July excursion because of the Serbian trip.

December: Normally I take a quick hop trip in December just to get away from the approaching winter (last year was New Orleans), but this year we decided to stay close to home, both to catch up and catch a breather. This was a demanding year – psychologically, medically, and literately. The latter is not a typo; besides reading more than 100 books, I wrote one. In addition, the book I wrote last year (Edison) come out in stores. More on that in my writing wrap up post.

So the year was a busy one, science traveling wise, despite many changes and challenges. Originally the plans included a trip to Machu Picchu, which for the second year in a row got bumped (it’s on our list again for this year, maybe). Planned trips to Michigan (writer’s retreat) and China were also bumped because of the aforementioned unplanned distractions. Overall, however, it was a very good year for traveling. The best part was that science and Abraham Lincoln were present virtually everywhere I went.

I’ll do a 2017 year in preview in a few weeks. So many places to go!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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Science in Charlottesville

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In the final years of his long productive life, Thomas Jefferson established what is now the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He wanted a place where students could get a science education.

Today the Chesapeake and Potomac Chapter of SETAC comes to UVA to show what we have learned.

The photo below is the Poe Room maintained by the Raven Society on campus just as it was when Edgar Allen Poe was a student.

You can soar with eagles here on campus.

More on the conference and other events this week.

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Science Traveling – 2016 in Preview

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I’m going to Machu Picchu in 2016. Of course, I said I was going to Machu Picchu in 2015 and had to punt on it to this year. But this year I’m really going. I hope. Like last year, my plans could easily change, but here is what I’m planning for 2016.

Wind SurfThe only trip actually booked so far is a sailing cruise of the Caribbean in late January/early February. We’ll meet four Saints (Maarten, Kitts, Barthelemy, and Lucia), plus Barbuda, Guadaloupe, and Dominica. All while sailing point to point on a 535-foot sailboat.

Beyond that we’re looking at two other overseas trips – one to the aforementioned Machu Picchu in May, the other to China (and hopefully one other country) in October. If it all works out I’ll get to add at least six new countries to my visited list (last year I added only 3, though I was in 6 outside the U.S.).

I’ll also have my annual trip to New England to visit my parents, plus perhaps a second trip for my high school reunion. I’ve never attended a reunion before but this year I just might. It’s not until August so we’ll see when it gets closer.

Lincoln TombSpringfield, Illinois may see me twice this year. I have a scheduled trip there in September with the Lincoln Group of DC, in which we’ll pursue Lincoln’s memory through New Salem, Springfield, and points surrounding. I’m also anticipating a purely research trip, probably in March, to visit with the staffs of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Lincoln is also the focus of a November trip to Gettysburg.

Closer to home, I will likely have a book launch party in August to celebrate the release of my newest book Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World.

Those are the more-or-less planned trips. Others may include Orlando for the SETAC meeting in November, Charlottesville for the CPRC meeting in April, Mt. Rushmore (still trying to squeeze this in at some point), and Newport News, VA (home of the Monitor ironclad).

I’ll be writing many science traveling articles during 2016 so check back regularly.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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The Year in a Writer’s Life – 2015

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Hemingway's typewriterThe last few days of 2015 are bringing me somewhat of a breather from science traveling and writing and reading. It’s been a busy year in all respects. The writing scene has been especially productive.

Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World was the biggest project this year, though definitely not the only one. Following on the success of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (which enjoyed its 3rd, 4th, and 5th printings in 2015!), Fall River Press of Sterling Publishing asked me to write a follow up in the same style. So not only is Tesla still in Barnes and Noble stores, it will be joined in the summer of 2016 by Edison. Needless to say, writing the Edison book kept me busy writing a good part of the year.

But it didn’t stop there. I also wrote an e-book that looked at the surprisingly many connections between my two favorite historic people. Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate is published on Amazon and available for download to Kindle or the Kindle App on any smartphone or tablet. You can also download my earlier e-book: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

This year also saw a few articles. “Abraham Lincoln: The Majesty and the Math of Niagara Falls” was published in the Sept/Oct issue of The Lincolnian. In addition, the next issue will begin my new recurring column in which I offer reviews of two Lincoln-related books. One of the two will be on a new Lincoln book while the other will review a “Classic Lincoln” book, that is, a book that has been around for a very long time and perhaps forgotten or unknown.

To this you can add an article I wrote for the Smithsonian Civil War Studies.Org online newsletter, “And the War Ends,” plus an article for the CPRC Newsletter. The latest issue of the CPRC Newsletter also included an article about me and the SETAC award I won this year.

And let’s not forget the blogs. Over the course of the last year I’ve written around 250 posts combined for Science Traveler, Hot White Snow, and The Dake Page. That’s a lot of writing.

My opening sentence of this piece is not quite accurate. I’m not actually done writing for the year. I’ve been working diligently on my Lincoln book proposal and will be doing some last fine-tuning of it this week so I can send it to my agent immediately after New Years. While she’s reviewing it I’ll be continuing to write the sample chapters. The goal is to have the publishing contract in place as early in 2016 as possible so that I can be working on that book for a 2017(?) release.

So 2016 should be a very good writing year as well.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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The Year in Science Traveling – 2015

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Science TravelerSomehow I managed not to travel anywhere in February, June, and August. But for the other nine months I had at least one out-of-town trip. It was a very good year in Science Traveling. I’ve finished traveling for the year so it’s time for a quick recap.

January: Everglades, Key West, and the Dry Tortugas. Besides seeing the prison cells that held the Lincoln assassination conspirators I discovered that Ernest Hemingway was a crazy cat lady. I also discovered the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach.

March: A relatively local trip to the eastern shore of Maryland in which I unexpectedly came upon skeleton road at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. I also checked in to the marine biology lab I once worked in, plus a wine tasting in St. Michaels.

April: Another semi-local trip for the annual CPRC scientific conference, this one a full-day affair at the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD.

May: I started May in New England on a writer’s retreat in my old home town. I ended May in Scandinavia on a tour of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Bergen (with stops on the fjords). I even came across a few surprises.

July: The 4th of July brought me back to my home town for the holiday, then a road trip up to Quebec City and Montreal. On the way back the route took us on a quest for used book stores in western Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. One of the highlights was Montmorency Falls.

September: A busy fall began with a trip to New York City, where I got up close with the Statue of Liberty, saw the top of the world from the Empire State Building, the bottom of the world in the new World Trade Center Memorial and Museum, and some aircraft carriers/submarines/space shuttles.

October: Ah, Paris in the spring, er, the fall. For once the weather cooperated and the Eiffel Tower was amazing. In two short days we squeezed in a lot of venues, including Musee d’Orsay and the Pompidou Centre, then took the train through the Chunnel to London. Unfortunately I spent most of my time in the latter city hopping around on one foot.

November: The morning after returning from London I was on a plane to Salt Lake City for the annual SETAC meeting, where I picked up the award for Outstanding Regional Chapter Member. Ten days after my return I was in Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum conference. And then my parents visited me for 10 days. November was a very busy month.

December: December seems low-key given that the sole trip was a long weekend to New Orleans. Okay, technically that isn’t the last trip of the year as we likely will drive up to Amish country in Pennsylvania for the Christmas weekend, but that will actually feel like a nice break from a year of science traveling.

And it was, in fact, science traveling. Every trip had some connection to a book I’m researching or a future book in the plans. It’s amazing how much science (and Lincoln and Tesla and Edison) there is when you look for it. The July 4th trip, for example, included stops in two of Thomas Edison’s most iconic laboratories, and New Orleans has a plaque at Thomas Edison Place. Lincoln was everywhere (including New Orleans).

When I wasn’t science traveling I was writing a book, two books in fact. Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World is finished and will be in Barnes and Noble bookstores in 2016. I also published an e-book available on Amazon: Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. If that wasn’t enough to keep me busy I also have read 94 books this year (with two weeks to go), chaired a scientific committee, attended various local Abraham Lincoln dinners, lectures, and symposiums, and served as a Vice President in the Lincoln Group of DC.

Next year should be even busier!

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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Seeing SETAC in Salt Lake City

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I’ve been a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) for nearly 30 years. Most of those years I’ve attended the annual meeting held in various cities of North America. This past week we were in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mormon Church, Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is the center of the Mormon Church, aka, the Church of Latter Day Saints. The temple was a block or so away from the convention center filled with over SETAC members. This year the organizers put up a poster showing all the previous SETAC meeting locations and asked conference participants to put sticky stars on the year they first attended.

SETAC, Salt Lake City

The photo above was taken on Tuesday so doesn’t show all of the stars that were later added (the conference ended Thursday evening), but it does suffice to point out a couple of interesting conclusions.

The first SETAC conference was in 1980 and yet there are still many of the original members still attending the meeting each year. In conversations I had with several people, however, it was clear that we are losing some of our older members and that we need to capture their memories. This was a topic of discussion in our Senior Resource Group meeting, which consists of many of the folks that have been coming to meetings for a very long time. As this year progresses we’ll address this need further.

Also evident is the huge number of first time attendees here in Salt Lake City, and that is a very good thing. It means that we are attracting new members (in particular, new master’s and PhD students). Many of the events at SETAC are geared toward student growth, including assigned mentors, career guidance, and travel awards to help pay for costs of attendance.

SETAC, Salt Lake City, Award

I received my own award at the opening ceremony. Actually, I received two. The first I knew about: Outstanding Regional Chapter Member Award, which reflects all the work I’ve done for the Chesapeake-Potomac Regional Chapter. SETAC presents about 10 awards each year in an organization with about 7000 members worldwide. The fact that they kept flashing the award winners on flat screens around the convention hall was both a sense of pride and a bit unnerving. I also received a second award, a Presidential Citation for Exemplary Service, which SETAC-North America’s President presented on Monday as I chaired a committee meeting.

As with all such conferences, there were plenty of scientific sessions to attend, including those on emerging issues like microplastics and climate change impacts on environmental toxicology. I ran into many old friends, and even a former employee of mine. He was a technician in the aquatic toxicology I ran long ago; now he’s a university professor with his own entourage of students.

One other chance meeting may also prove fruitful. While traveling the hallways between sessions I ran into a science writer I had met a few years earlier. We caught up as best we could in the few minutes we had, but hit on the idea of a possible book collaboration focused on communicating science to the public. We’ll be following up on that idea shortly.

Until then, it’s back home to recalibrate, rejuvenate, and reconsider a previously anticipated December trip. To paraphrase New England Patriot’s Head Coach Bill Belichick, its “On to the Next Science Traveling!”

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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I Won a SETAC Award!

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Recently I received a call from Greg Schiefer, Executive Director of SETAC-NA, also known as the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry-North America. SETAC is an international scientific organization comprising over 6000 members, of which over 3200 are in the North American region. Greg informed me that I had won the 2015 Outstanding Regional Chapter Member Award.

CPRC logoSETAC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This award is very special to me. I’ve been a member of my regional chapter, the Chesapeake-Potomac Regional Chapter (CPRC), for nearly 25 years, and SETAC for even longer. During that time I’ve been President of CPRC on two separate occasions. At other times have been a Board member, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President, and Newsletter Editor/Publisher. It’s been a lot of work, all volunteer, but I’ve loved every minute of it.

The Outstanding Regional Chapter Member Award recognizes “the countless hours that its members contribute, often in the background, to the functioning of the Society’s Regional Chapters.” I am honored to receive it.

This award joins other recognition I’ve received during my years with SETAC, including a President’s Citation (2005) and an Executive Director’s Citation (1996). I was also privileged to receive the Distinguished Service Award from CPRC in 2002.

Being a member of CPRC and SETAC has been an amazing experience. Through these organizations I have made many friends, developed incredible professional contacts, and learned everything from keeping up with the science to how to negotiate a cavernous conference center filled with thousands of other lost colleagues desperately seeking the right meeting room for their next session.

I’m happy to say that I continue to be highly involved with both the parent and regional groups. I chair a committee for SETAC and attend annual meetings for SETAC and CPRC, and I regularly contribute presentations and newsletter articles. Science Traveler (aka, this website/my professional writing business) has been a proud sponsor of CPRC for the last three years.

To say I appreciate receiving this award would be a vast understatement. I’m looking forward to featuring it next to my writer’s desk…and continuing to be active with SETAC and CPRC. Thank you all.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!