Tom Anderson is a professional naturalist, an award-winning writer and a wildlife expert. For 16 years he was director of the Lee and Rose Warner Nature Center, which is associated with the Science Museum of Minnesota and is located in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. In addition to his work at the nature center, Tom is a well-known writer and columnist. For nearly 15 years he wrote "Reading Sign," an award-winning column for the Chisago County Press. He is also the author of 2 books, Learning Nature by a Country Road and Black Bear: Seasons in the Wild, both from Voyageur Press. He is a published poet and was a columnist for Midwest Fly Fishing Magazine and the Science Museum of Minnesota periodical, Encounters. Tom has been honored many times for his writing. He was 1 of 20 Minnesota artists chosen to participate in the Millennium Journal Project. In 2003 he was awarded the "Best Commentary Award" by The National Association of Interpretation's periodical, The Legacy. In 2004 he was runner-up for the "Best Feature" category. The natural world and our intimate connection to it inspires Tom to write. He lives southwest of North Branch, but he travels often, especially in the far North. He lives with his lovely wife, Nancy Conger, in the nineteenth-century farmhouse that his Swedish great-great grandparents built.