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Image: A collection of three of Rosemary Mosco's comics

The Key to Learning? Make it Fun! Nature Comics with Rosemary Mosco

It’s all too common for science to feel “over our heads” and unreachable, but this cartoonist has found a way to bring together facts and humor to create one of the most enjoyable learning experiences out there.

Double ant butts, silly bird antics, and weird mating rituals are just a few of Rosemary Mosco’s subjects. With adorably illustrated comics, she’s helping even the most unscientific among us find humor and even a little wonder in the world around us.

Delivering science facts in a way that delights more than just a drive for knowledge, her comics connect to us somewhere deeper—perhaps, the silly bone—where we can take a step back and fully embrace and enjoy how utterly odd this world we live in is.

Stuff like… these:

Image: A collection of three of Rosemary Mosco's comics
Source: Rosemary Mosco // Bird and Moon

Comics are a way for me to appreciate the natural world in all of its cuteness and horribleness and wonder.

—Rosemary Mosco

I don’t know about you, but my time learning about biology, evolution, and the natural world in school wasn’t full of laughter. Although, if these comics were around when I was younger, my interest in our wacky world may have been sparked far earlier in life.

She helps us take a moment to giggle at the urges and actions that evolution has left us and our fellow creatures pursuing, however odd they are. It reminds me of how fun it was to learn on The Magic School Bus as a kid!

Humor is a powerful learning tool. Whether it’s odd mating performances, silly arguments over verbiage in the science community, or calls for action to help the planet, Rosemary has a way of reaching across the line of science into the everyman’s world. She helps each person who sees her comic feel welcome to observe and enjoy the natural world we’re all a part of!

Here’s Rosemary herself (with a bird on her head) in a video from Science Friday to show us how she does it. Enjoy!

Via: SciFri 1

Interested in seeing more content from SciFri? Head over to their YouTube channel!

More of Rosemary’s comics can be found on her Instagram and her website! You can purchase wonderful prints of her work here.

Rosemary is also an author of some really fantastic books! Some hit titles are Birding Is My Favorite Video Game, Solar System: Our Place in Space, Butterflies are Pretty…Gross!, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, and the NYT best-selling The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid

You better bet you’ll find a few of these titles on my coffee table.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces:

Source: Rosemary Mosco
Source: Rosemary Mosco
Source: Rosemary Mosco

The world is FULL of humor, if only we just look!

From watching a bunch of squirrels figure out a new obstacle, to trying to imagine what birds are saying to one another, there’s so much wonder and joy right under our noses that we often aren’t privy to.

Thankfully, science communicators like Rosemary are here to help each of us connect to this world. It isn’t just for the people with master’s and doctorate degrees to explore and enjoy; it’s for all of us. You and I are living in this world right alongside that beetle that pretends to be an ant’s butt, and that’s something to celebrate!

Before you leave this article, make sure you give Rosemary a follow on Instagram so you’ll never miss her little windows into this hilariously complex world of ours. When her posts pop up in my feed, they never fail to make me giggle!

For some of my favorite creatures whose antics have given me a giggle, make sure you check out these articles next!

The Very Curious Way Robins Keep Their Nest So Clean!

When a nest of robins took up residence on this reporter’s porch, she had more than a few questions for her new neighbors. One of those questions lead her down a rabbit hole of curiosity that you might just want to know the answer to as well!

Read Article Watch Video Listen to Podcast
Ferrets: History’s Most Helpful Cable Guys

You may think of them as a stinky pet, but ferrets are truly talented critters! Read on to see what sets them apart from other mammals, and how they have been helping us humans out of tight spots for over 2000 years!

Read Article Watch Video Listen to Podcast
How TurtleCams are Enlisting Turtles to Protect their Ocean!

Do you remember the viral video of the sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose? It changed the way many people saw our ocean plastic problem. And now, the scientists behind that video are keeping the positive momentum going—this time turning to the turtles themselves for footage of how we can help make a difference!

Read Article Watch Video Listen to Podcast

As always, my friend, stay open to new possibilities!

  • Sam

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Notes:

  1. SciFri. “The Seriously Silly Science Cartoons of Rosemary Mosco.” YouTube, 16 Jan. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lveGjN9wKCA. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Image: Samantha Burns

Sam Burns

Former Editor-In-Chief

Sam wrote and edited hundreds of articles during her time on the Goodness Exchange team from 2016-2021. She wrote about topics from the wonders of nature to the organizations changing the world and the simple joys in life! Outside of the Goodness Exchange, she’s a part-time printmaker, collector of knick-knacks, and procurer of cheeses.

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