Naturalist Book Club: "The Sun is a Compass: A 4,000 Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds" by Caroline Van Hemert

Please join us to discuss this inspiring book about life, nature, travel and science.  We'll host a happy hour at 6:45 for anyone who wants to chat socially before we discuss the book. Participants will be sent a Zoom link the evening before the event.

“In her first book, Van Hemert embarks on an epic journey toward understanding the concept of zugunruhe, the German word for migratory restlessness most markedly seen in certain bird species. Disillusioned by the drudgeries of academia and realities of adulthood, Van Hemert and husband Pat commit to traveling north from Bellingham, WA, to the upper reaches of Alaska and then across the Alaskan wilderness eschewing motorized transportation of any kind. They traverse water via homemade rowboats, canoe, and inflatable rafts, and cover land by ski and foot. Throughout the adventure, Van Hemert reveals the concerns that plague her: can she recapture her love of the natural world snuffed out by the grind of pursuing a PhD? Is it the right time to start a family? How will her dad fare with his recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease? These thoughts are juxtaposed by a quest that requires sheer force of will, strength, and a driving determination to finish what she started. This inspirational memoir is riveting. Reading it will incite wanderlust.”—Library Journal 

New York Times Article