The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest
with Josie Iselin and Ellen Litwiller
Saturday, May 2, 2026
1:00 PM: Josie and Ellen in Conversation
2:00-3:00 PM Book Sale and Signing
Discovery Center
338 N. Main St. in Fort Bragg
In The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest, Josie Iselin and Ellen Litwiller vividly illustrate the intricate web of interdependency that bull kelp forests sustain.
Josie Iselin is an artist, author, and designer who has been telling seaweed and kelp stories for over a decade. Her two books An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed (2014, 2023) and The Curious World of Seaweed (2019) display her profound understanding of seaweed natural history and her deep connections within the seaweed science community. Iselin directs content development for the Above/Below campaign and is the lead author of the campaign’s web story, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp. She teaches in the School of Design at San Francisco State University and lives in San Francisco. josieiselin.com
Ellen Litwiller is a freelance illustrator whose work brings art and science together in imaginative ways. She loves exploring how creativity and curiosity intersect, using a variety of mediums to tell stories that are both visually striking and scientifically accurate. She began her career creating exhibits for natural history museums, where she worked as a muralist, illustrator, model maker, and preparator. With years of hands-on experience in exhibition design and installation, she developed a deep appreciation for detail and storytelling. Through collaboration with scientists, she enjoys the shared curiosity that unite art and science—both rooted in observation and appreciation of the world around us and the universe beyond.