Dr. Tyrone Hayes has loved frogs since childhood. Dr. Hayes’s studies of the effects of atrazine, a common agricultural pesticide, on amphibians are presented in clear detail, with text, photos, and diagrams efficiently modeling the scientific method. Although the producer of atrazine initially employed Dr. Hayes to study the pesticide’s effects, the company refused to let him publish his results. He repeated his experiments independently, with similar results, and has publicized the data in academic and public arenas. Pamela Turner deftly mixes scientific information with personal stories featuring Dr. Hayes (who has loved frogs since childhood), his family, and some of the students at the University of Califnornia at Berkeley mentored by this African American professor in a book that can engage readers from a broad range of perspectives—academic, scientific, political, cultural, and social. Andy Comins’s excellent photographs are well captioned and liberally sprinkled throughout this appealingly designed volume. (Ages 10–15)

The critically acclaimed Scientist in the Field book about how one boy's interest in backyard science inspired a career in scientific discovery.

When Tyrone Hayes was growing up in South Carolina, he didn't worry about pesticides. He just liked to collect frogs. Tyrone's interest in science led him to Harvard University, and though he struggled at first, he found his calling in the research lab of an amphibian scientist.

Meanwhile, scientists discovered that all around the globe, frogs were dying. The decline has many causes, including habitat loss and disease. Tyrone discovered that the most commonly used pesticide in the United States, atrazine, may also play a role. Tyrone tested atrazine on frogs in his lab at Berkeley. He found that the chemical caused some of the male frogs to develop into bizarre half-male, half-female frogs. What was going on? That's what Tyrone wants to find out.