PETER MCGRATH is an author who studied zoology at Liverpool University where he was introduced to ‘The History of the Idea of Evolution’ by Professor A.J.Cain. This sparked a lifelong interest in Charles Darwin, which when mixed with his subsequently developed love of sailing, led to the following terrible effect: Peter decided that Charles Darwin’s bicentenary in 2009 must be celebrated by building a sailing replica of HMS Beagle. To discuss flinging a sack of money into the HMS Beagle Project, helping a replica HMS Beagle sail the world in Darwin’s wake with young scientists aboard, please check out the project's website. -

DIANA SUDYKA is a Chicago illustrator and artist. She has a Bachelors of Fine Art from University of Illinois is Urbana-Champaign, and a Masters of Fine Art from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. She creates work for everything from book covers, album artwork, screen-printed rock posters, to watercolors for her avian blog, The Tiny Aviary, documenting her volunteer work for the Bird Division at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. She has always had a great interest in ornithology and natural history, and the work she produces is informed by that passion. To see more of her work, please click here.