Conlan, Kathy Under The Ice: a Canadian Museum of Nature Book.

Photographs by author and others, as noted. ISBN 1-55337-001-5. Toronto, ON & Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press, 2002. 55 pp. $16.95. The outdoor life seemed to call Kathy Conlan all her life; by 1989, she was a marine field biologist studying plants and animals in their natural habitats. This first-person account describes many intriguing aspects of Conlan's work in the polar desert of Antarctica. For instance, her complex diving equipment must be hauled to a dive hut where she suits up and then enters a tunnel-like hole in the 6-foot layer of ice. Once under the ice, the biologist photographs and studies an amazing array of marine life. As is true of most places where people stay for even short times, waste material has begun to pollute even this isolated environment. Consequently, Conlan and her colleagues have begun studying the effects of garbage and other pollution on Antarctic marine life. Unique photographs and interesting explanations give readers an inside look into a harsh, fascinating world that few will be able to visit in person. Ages 9-12. Reviewed by Irene A. Allen, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI