We celebrated the publication of our new book, Zobi and the Zoox, in a art-science themed evening of activities on Friday March 13th at ArtPlay.

The book was officially launched by Jane Sullivan, literary journalist for The Age and the event included an interdisciplinary, inter-generational panel discussion, a collaborative drawing of a coral bommie, a micro-demonstration about the future of the Great Barrier Reef featuring toys and handmade protest signs and a book reading by main author, Ailsa Wild.

The theme of the panel discussion was ‘the role of the arts in communicating about climate change’. It was moderated by science communicator and radio presenter Beth Askham and featured atmospheric scientist David Karoly (Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007), microbial ecologist Prof Linda Blackall (Swinburne), writer Mason Engelander, science education academic Maurizio Toscano (University of Melbourne), artist Briony Barr (Scale Free Network) and primary school student, Bodhi Harper.

In July 2015, Zobi and the Zoox won its first book award – a PUGGLE- the Children’s Choice (Picture Fiction) category of the Environmental Award for Children’s Literature. The award is hosted by the Wilderness Society, Australia.