Children's author Loree Griffin Burns will visit Old Hammondtown School, Rochester Memorial School and Old Rochester Regional Junior High School between May 27, 28, 29 and June 1 to speak to students in grades 5 through 7 about various science topics.

Burns holds a PhD in biochemistry and uses her experiences as a working scientist and her passion for nature in her books. Her books have won numerous awards including American Library Association designations and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book Award.

Old Hammondtown School students will be “Tracking Trash” based on Burns’ book of the same name. At Rochester Memorial School, she will focus on "Citizen Scientists," and at the junior high, seventh graders will hear a program based on Burns’ latest book, "Beetle Busters" about the Asian Longhorn Beetle infestation in the Worcester area.

The public is invited to a MOBY (My Own BackYard) event on Saturday, May 30th at 1 p.m., when Burns will present a citizen science program based on the Lost Ladybug Project. The program will begin at the Plumb Memorial Library in Rochester and move to a nearby field on Dexter Lane.

Burns will teach children and their families to collect ladybugs, photograph them, and then upload their data to the Lost Ladybug Project website (http://lostladybug.org/) where their data will be used by scientists keeping track of North American ladybug species.

The Saturday program is part of the tri-town libraries’ MOBY project, paid for with federal funds through a Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners grant. MOBY is a year-long science and nature exploration program for students in grades three through eight and their families.

To register for the Citizen Science program on May 30, call Rochester Library at 508-763-8600.

The programs represent a collaboration between Rochester Memorial School PTO, Old Hammondtown PTO, Kathy Gauvin from ORR Junior High’s science department, Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester Cultural Councils, Elizabeth Taber Library, Mattapoisett Free Public Library, and Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library.

To learn more about Burns or MOBY programs, contact one of the tri-town libraries by visiting, viewing their websites, or following MOBY on their social media platforms such as MOBYfun on Facebook.