Dawn Cusick writes award-winning children's nature nonfiction books. Get the Scoop on Animal Poop! was selected to the National Science Teachers Association's 2013 list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, Bankstreet College of Education's 2013 Best Children's Books of the Year list, and was named a finalist in the Children's Book Council's 2013 Children's Choice Book Award and the Animal Behavior Society's 2013 Outstanding Children's Book Award. Her first two children's books, Bug Butts and Animal Eggs, also won many awards. Ms. Cusick holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, a certificate of post-Baccalaureate Major in Biology from the University of North Carolina-Asheville, and a Masters of Science in Biology from Western Carolina University. Her research work involves species' recognition and speciation in cryptic katydids. She teaches general biology and zoology courses at Haywood Community College.