With the world sheltering at home, the COVID-19 pandemic provided time and opportunity for Nicole Miller to write her first children’s book about exploring our oceans.

A program specialist with the UCAR Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS) who is based at NOAA Ocean Exploration, Miller put that time, especially on the weekends, to good use. 

“This was a passion project,” she said.“ It’s something that was on my bucket list and I knew that I wanted to contribute to understanding and appreciation of our oceans; to create excitement around ocean exploration for kids while at the same time, meeting  science education standards.”

Her work culminated in self-publication of the book, Learn from Earth: All About Surf. Miller drew inspiration from her personal experience with the ocean, her educational background in ecology and microbiology, and her love of poetry to write a rhythmic, rhyming poem – an ode to the surf and an invitation to children ages 4 to 7 to explore what we can learn from the waves crashing against the shore. 

Miller has lived in Northeastern Florida her entire life, and often at the beach. From an early age, her father helped guide her exploration of tide pools. As a teenager, she learned to surf but quickly discovered it was a male-dominated sport. While the balance has changed over time, she wanted every child reading the book to experience a sense of belonging – whether paddling a surfboard, exploring along the shore, or visiting the beach for the first time through the pages of her book – to know that they belong there.

“With really strong intention, I wrote Charlie [the protagonist] as an androgynous character, with no pronouns used throughout the book to allow every child to see themselves,” Miller said. 

To a large extent, Charlie’s experiences mimic Miller’s own process of learning about the ocean. The more she studied, the more she appreciated the complexity of our ecosystems, and especially, what the surf can reveal. From the book jacket, “Charlie’s adventures to the beach and into the ocean [create an opportunity] to learn about all the environmental factors that create fun surf.” Readers will discover with Charlie, how gravity, wind, and the seas converge to build powerful swell – waves generated by the wind – around the Earth.

Miller met the book’s illustrator, Susie Dugan, quite literally, at the beach where they connected over their shared passion for surfing. “Susie did a tremendous job with illustrations to engage kids about complex topics, like how the moon and wind affect high and low tides and are responsible for contributing to great surf.”

The process of self-publishing, Learn from Earth: All about Surf, was not without its challenges, however. From starting her own business to finding an editor and formatting the book for publication, assigning an ISBN to aid discovery, and marketing, Miller learned end-to-end how to publish a book.

The text is fun, “almost like a nursery rhyme,” she said because it’s an engaging style, a style she remembers resonating with her as a child:

The wind is light and the tide is just right. 

The surf may be the best of your life. 

“This was a fun way for me to end the story, but then also to show that there are many environmental factors that come together to create what we perceive.” Further, she says that if she can inspire kids to think “scientifically and with appreciation for the natural world, then I feel successful.”

You can find Miller doing readings from her book at local bookstores and schools in Florida.