Carol Coogan is an artist, illustrator, graphic designer, writer and amateur naturalist. She writes and illustrates the “Backyard Naturalist,” a weekly newspaper column for the Times Union of upstate NY. Her pen & ink illustration, “Common Loon,” was accepted into the internationally recognized “Focus on Nature X: Natural History Illustration Exhibition,” and is now part of the New York State Museum’s permanent collection. For 25 years, she collaborated creatively as a songwriter and performer with her now deceased husband, Paul Strausman, an award winning children’s recording artist, arts-in-education specialist and locally beloved elementary school music teacher.