Congratulations to Bamfield author Louis Druehl and Comox author Bridgette Clarkston, whose book, Pacific Seaweeds: A Guide to Common Seaweeds of the West Coast, Updated and Expanded Edition (Harbour Publishing, $28.95), has won Bronze in the Environment/Ecology/Nature category in the 21st Annual Independent Publisher Book Awards. Their book is the authoritative guide to over 200 common species of seaweeds from southeast Alaska to central California.

Each year since 1996, the Independent Publisher Book Awards competition has identified a reading list of progressive, thought-provoking books—the kind that can touch lives, advance careers, and stretch our imaginations. With the tag line “Recognizing Excellence in Independent Publishing,” the IPPY Awards showcase the best books from throughout North America and the English-speaking world. The awards are presented each spring at a gala ceremony during the BookExpo America convention in New York. Winners receive gold, silver and bronze medals and foil seals for their book covers.

Since the first edition came out fifteen years ago, Pacific Seaweeds has sold over 10,000 copies. This updated and expanded guide thoroughly documents every aspect of seaweed life, from species identification and seaweed biology to the essential—and often surprising—roles seaweeds play in the marine ecosystem and our everyday lives. Seaweeds are used in everything from cosmetics to sustainable biofuels, and some species, like kelp, contribute to the remediation of coastal ecosystems.

Louis D. Druehl is a Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, where he taught and researched kelp for 36 years and was instrumental in establishing the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. He lives in Bamfield, BC, where he and his wife, Rae Hopkins, operate Canadian Kelp Resources Ltd. He is also the author of the novel Cedar, Salmon and Weed (Granville Island, 2015).

Bridgette E. Clarkston is a seaweed biologist, science educator and avid photographer with over a decade of teaching experience at the University of New Brunswick, University of British Columbia, and California State University, Monterey Bay. She has discovered several new species of red seaweed, and is the author of A Field Guide to Seaweeds of the Pacific Northwest (Harbour, 2015). Born and raised in Comox, she now makes her home in Monterey, California.