DRAWING WILD ANIMALS

Oana Befort is a Romanian-born graphic artist whose watercolors and mixed-media works are inspired by natural motifs and themes. Oana graduated from the National University of Arts in Bucharest, Romania, with an MA in graphic design and visual communication. With a love for fresh colors and details, Oana merges her passion for illustration and graphic design into whimsical stationery and paper goods. Oana has worked with major clients around the world for projects such as book illustrations, stationery, homewares, magazine editorials, and more. She co-authored Drawing Wild Animals (Quarry Books) and Creative Folk Art and Beyond (Walter Foster Publishing). Oana currently lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa. See more of Oana's work at www.oanabefort.com.

Maggie Reinbold is Director of Community Engagement at San Diego Zoo Global, heading up a dynamic team dedicated to designing and implementing programs that connect communities to conservation for the benefit of wildlife and habitats. She is also an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Department of Biology at Miami University, where she teaches the Earth Expedition to the Big Island of Hawaii. Maggie earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biology at San Diego State University, with a focus on the population genetics of desert aquatic insects across the Baja California Peninsula. She has taught science in a number of formal and informal settings, including the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Natural History Museum, Cardiff Elementary School, and San Diego State University. As an National Science Foundation science fellow, she co-taught hands-on science with classroom teachers across San Diego County and also spent several seasons in Arctic Alaska, bringing hands-on science education to unique and underserved communities on the North Slope. She is the co-author of Drawing Wild Animals and author of Animal Exploration Lab for Kids. She lives in Poway, California.