Edelman publishes second edition of California Naturalist Handbook
The cover of the California Naturalist Handbook, Second Edition. Courtesy of the University of California Press.
The second edition of The California Naturalist Handbook, co-authored by Deborah Stanger Edelman, was published in September 2025. The publisher, University of California Press, calls it "the go-to guide to California’s natural history, now updated with fresh insights on stewardship for a changing climate and diverse naturalist perspectives." Used statewide for the California Naturalist classes, the Handbook offers a fun, science-based introduction to California’s natural history, emphasizing observation, discovery, communication, and stewardship.
The second edition has an updated overview of the state’s unique ecosystems, plant and animal communities, geology, freshwater resources, and forest and rangeland resources, as well as discussions of conservation biology and the effects of pressing environmental issues. Aspiring naturalists learn how to keep a nature journal, practice participatory science, and improve ecosystem resilience. The updated edition also includes expanded discussions of Indigenous knowledge and stewardship, contributions by diverse naturalist leaders, a deeper dive into southern California’s urban and desert ecologies, current climate change information, recognition of climate grief, and higher quality images showing a more diverse range of habitats.