Carol O’Casey writes from her rich and varied background as a field biologist, teacher, pastor’s wife, friend, mother, and child of God. She lives in Oregon. She has three children.
Born in southern California, Carol earned a B.S. in Marine Biology from California State University, Long Beach, and a M.S. in Biology from California State University, San Bernardino. She has spent years in the field—literally—from cataloging plants high in the mountains of Southern California to mucking through mud monitoring shorebirds in Washington. She has taught science to college students and also to sixth graders.
She has been published in Environmental Entomology and the Journal of Field Ornithology. Testimony to her ability to reach a wide audience, she has also contributed nature articles to Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Junior.
Carol’s passion is expounding the wonders tucked in the cathedrals of God’s wilds. She calls herself a wonder-ologist.
by Carol O’Casey:
UNWRAPPING WONDER : Finding Hope in the Gift of Nature
A Conversation with Carol
Good morning, Carol. Thanks for meeting with us. We’d love to get a glimpse into the personal passions that motivated you to write this delightful book, Unwrapping Wonder. Tell us a little about yourself.
Carol: I’m a field biologist. I love being outdoors. I feel most alive in God’s natural cathedral—the wilds. And I’m a bit of a field guide addict. I collect guide books because I love to read about nature—from birds, bugs and butterflies to trees, leaves, flowers and fish. I want to know what makes these things tick. I want to unwrap the wonder of each and learn how they live. Field guides help me to do that. But many of them lack an element that’s important to me.
Let me explain. My aunt is a tour guide to art at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. As a guide, my aunt not only talks about the painting, but she discusses the artist. I consider nature to be God’s living museum of sorts, filled with His artworks. I want to discuss both the art and the artist. I wrote Unwrapping Wonder so the reader can explore the natural science of the bird, the butterfly, the leaf, the tree, as well as connect with the Master craftsman and learn a hope-filled lesson for everyday life.
You use this phrase as your tag line: Discover More about God, Nature and Self ~ One Wonder at a time. Can you explain how Unwrapping Wonder will help the reader discover more about God?
Carol: Each chapter of the book explores one object from nature. By studying these wonders as we peer inside the layers of a leaf, unwrap the wonder of a seed, or investigate the bee and its abilities we discover that God is able … He’s able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.
What will a reader discover about nature from Unwrapping Wonder?
Carol: For starters:
- How a butterfly wing gets its color.
- Where a dragonfly spends it’s “childhood.”
- What cell of a plant has no nucleus and why that’s important.
- What a leaf scar is and why it is critical to the life of the plant.
- How a sand dollar moves—and why?
- How a barnacle is able to withstand crashing waves.
- What exactly goes on under the bark of a tree.
I could go on, but I’ll let you discover the rest. . . .
Finally, what can a reader expect to discover about herself (or himself) from nature?
Carol: Nature has taught me many lessons. One is that I don’t have to have life all figured out. I only need to follow the One who does. Too often, I try to depend on myself to solve life’s problems, instead of looking to the birds and lilies of the field—as Jesus advises in Matthew 6:26–30. When I do, I discover that God takes care of their needs. Because of that, I can trust Him with all of my cares and concerns.
And to my readers I’ll say this: I’d love to hear about your own discoveries!
Thanks again, Carol, for joining us today.
Carol: Thank you. Now, go wonder!
Carol O’Casey on the Deschutes River at the Salmon Spawning:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcs50s9-8zY?rel=0&w=320&h=240%5D