Event Supporters
This program is generously supported by the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
Author Talk: Seattle Field Guide
Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum
Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum
Date & Time
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
6:30 p.m.
This event is in the past.
Tickets
General admission: $10
Burke members: FREE
Not a member? Join today.
The Burke Museum welcomes nature writers Kathryn True and Maria Dolan for a conversation about their new book Seattle Field Guide: Explore Nature in the City, a guide to 38 outdoor adventures across the greater Seattle area.
Seattle Field Guide is a fun, accessible, and inspiring guide to 38 nature-filled outings across the greater Seattle area — perfect for all ages and experience levels. Whether you have a free afternoon or a full day to explore, writers Dolan and True offer seasonal adventures that reveal the wild wonders hidden in the city’s parks, shorelines, greenways, and neighborhoods. Join the authors as they cover the how, when, and where to explore your own neighborhood with helpful insights into Seattle’s many natural wonders!
About Seattle Field Guide: Explore Nature in the City
Seattle Field Guide is a fun, accessible, and inspiring guide to 38 nature-filled outings across the greater Seattle area — perfect for all ages and experience levels. Whether you have a free afternoon or a full day to explore, nature writers Maria Dolan and Kathryn True offer seasonal adventures that reveal the wild wonders hidden in the city’s parks, shorelines, greenways, and neighborhoods. From Broadview to Rainier Beach and Discovery Park to Seward Park, readers will find easy-to-follow, seasonally appropriate ideas for kayaking with herons, mushroom hunting in city parks, biking through salmon restoration sites, identifying lichens in historic cemeteries, and listening for frog songs in quiet urban wetlands. Each outing includes guidance on terrain, effort level, travel distance, transit options, and available amenities — plus tips on what to bring and when to go. With colorful photos, maps, natural history sidebars, and cultural insights, this guide connects readers to the natural and human stories woven into Seattle’s landscape. Seattle Field Guide is your go-to companion for discovering nearby nature and making every season an opportunity to explore.
About the Authors
Kathryn True embraces her naturalist tendencies through hiking, birding, community science, and swimming in cold mountain lakes. She blogs about the natural world for Vashon Nature Center and authored a Seattle Times series called "Natural Wanders." Her work has also appeared in Sunset and Alaska Airlines Magazine. She lives on Vashon Island, Washington. Learn more about her work on her website and on Instagram @trueislander63.
Maria Dolan has written about bats, orcas, ocean acidification, living shorelines, Vaux’s Swifts, and the smell of a moose for publications including Slate, Smithsonian, CityLab, The Seattle Times, Sierra, Seattle Magazine, Ensia, and Salon. She lives in Seattle. Learn more about her work on her website and on Instagram @bookish_md.
