Meet the Wild Neighbors Biologist Offers Community‑Illustrated Field Guide

Amanda Sparkman, Westmont professor of biology and director of environmental studies, has released the third volume in the “California Wild Neighbors” series, “Neighbors with Fur: A Family Guide to California Backyard Mammals,” with illustrations by Westmont professors, staff, students, alums, children and others in the community. “I hope it offers something for readers of every age who feel a new or renewed sense of connection with their wild neighbors,” she says.

Other books in the series include “Neighbors with and without Scales” and “Neighbors with Feathers.” The books can be purchased at Chaucer’s Books, the Westmont Bookstore and on Amazon.

Sparkman, whose research focuses on the evolution of dwarfism in Channel Island reptiles and the urban ecology of fence lizards and acorn woodpeckers, teaches courses in ecology, evolution, behavior, ornithology, herpetology, bioethics and environmental studies at Westmont.

The first book in the series, “Neighbors with Feathers,” was originally handmade by Sparkman with her then 8-year-old son to introduce his toddler brother to commonly-seen birds in their yard. Then, she decided to ask colleagues and friends and family to join her on an expanded series that could be used for local biodiversity outreach.

Sparkman regularly leads school and church groups on reptile, bird and bat walks, and curates Westmont Biodiversity, a website that celebrates local biodiversity with campus photos, art and poetry. She’s always looking for new ways to inspire more people to look out the window, or go for a walk to encounter the biodiversity in their neighborhoods.

In the California Wild Neighbors series, she has enjoyed using her own personal observations in combination with scientific literature to tell one-sentence stories about the 18 species presented in each book.

“Who doesn’t want to know that the cheek pockets of Botta’s pocket gopher are actually separate from the mouth, and lined with fur?” she says. “Learning simple details about a creature that lives in your yard, street, park or trail can make them visible to you in a whole new way. And even if you don’t see them, learning even just one thing about them can make them come alive in your imagination, wondering where they are and what they are doing nearby.”

Nathan Huff, professor of art at Westmont, has enjoyed watching the series develop. “This delightful volume is part field guide, part poetry and all parts wonder!” he says of “Neighbors with Fur.”

Jean Gradias, former STEAM teacher at Cold Spring School now working at the Santa Barbara County Education Office, has enthusiastically contributed illustrations to the series. “What is special about this book series is the way it builds on the curiosity and wonder of the immediately accessible world all around us,” she says.

In addition to this series, Sparkman has also written three novels, “Lonely Mountain,” “A Safer Place,” and “Nell of the Gulls,” which are filled with California wildlife and engage themes of relationship with wild creatures and landscapes. These books are available both in print and as read-aloud podcasts.