The language used by scientists to explain complex ideas can be difficult and sometimes even boring. The language, with its Latin words and long scientific terms, could be one reason some people avoid learning about science, especially children. American Danielle Dixson is a marine biologist. She wants to make science fun for children. Dixson has turned that idea into a series of children's books. The nine books are written so that her research is easy to understand. "I just don't really think kids should be left out of it and I thought that story books may be one of the easiest ways to sort of captivate them and have them understand." Danielle Dixson is an assistant professor at the University of Delaware. Dixson says another goal of her science writing is to help increase understanding of the ocean environment. She spent almost two years in the South Pacific working on her post-doctoral research. She went to the island nation of Fiji to investigate coral reefs that are collapsing or, as she says, degrading. The goal of her research is to identify why some healthy coral reefs are breaking down. She also wants to find out how this degradation affects fish that live in and around the reefs. "A number of the reefs are converting from being, you know, these beautiful coral reef systems that have a lot of holes for animals to hide in, into reefs that the coral's degrading and collapsing and then there is not as much hiding spaces for fishes and things like that." Early in her research, Dixson made some videos for people in Fiji. The videos explained her work to the local community. She says she wanted them to understand how her research would help them. For the local children, Dixson started making books explaining her work. This helped to keep them from walking through her "laboratory" - baby pools filled with water she was using for her experiments. "I was living, actually, in the village with some of the locals. It was a lot easier to get research done if they understood what I was doing and how it would help them. And one of the ways that I was able to connect with the adults was I would make these videos for them. And then I started making children's books for the kids so that they would have a better idea of why I was there, so that when I ask them not to walk through the baby pools I was using for experiments or something like that, that that would actually happen." she added. When Dixson returned to the United States, she started doing the same thing for children in this country. She uses color1ful story books to capture the imagination of children. While she has their attention, she provides very useful information about science. As a marine scientist, Dixson wants her stories to be both educational and inspirational, serving as an agent for change. She also includes in her books "a call to action," asking readers what they can do to make a difference. "One of the things I do in those story books is I have a last page. And the last page talks about what you can do to help. You know, there is a lot of things that even a 6-year-old is able to do, whether it's shutting your lights off when you leave a room, or riding your bike to your friend's house instead of having your parents drive you. There is a lot of stuff that they can do and still feel they're making a difference." Danielle Dixson's books shine a light on the environmental problems facing our world's oceans. They also make science fun and understandable for children. But her books may have an unintended consequence, something she may not have planned on. What can we infer from Dixson's research on coral reefs in Fiji?
She's targeted at breaking down unhealthy coral reefs. Coral reefs can shelter many fishes around. The videos she made served the local community well. Children there helped her a lot to accomplish books.