2023 Season of Creation: Creature Features

For the 2023 Season of Creation, EarthBeat will recirculate nine "Creature Features" through a twice-weekly newsletter. Each Tuesday and Thursday from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4 subscribers will receive an email with an original illustration of the day's creature by graphic designer and illustrator Ryan McQuade along with a preview of and link to an essay or report on EarthBeat that highlights that creature.

There will also be a corresponding series of posts on EarthBeat's Instagram account, so make sure you're following @earthbeatncr.

Sept. 1: World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

"How to pray the Lord's Prayer with all creatures"
By Collin Cornell
April 19, 2022

Sept. 5: Whale

"As climate tipping points loom, finding hope in the gray whale's comeback"
By Ray Levy Uyeda
October 1, 2022

Sept. 7: Honeybee

"Oblivion and salvation in the ark of the honeybees"
By Steven Salido Fisher
July 2, 2022

Sept. 12: Piping Plover

"More than a day at the beach: Piping plover volunteers work to save a species"
By Peter Feuerherd
August 20, 2022

Sept. 14: Crab

"Contradiction, infinity, divinity live in 'A Green Crab's Shell'"
By Ray Levy Uyeda
July 5, 2023

Sept. 19: Blue Heron

"Amid threat of extinction, remember today's 'holy innocents' who couldn't take flight"
By Steven Salido Fisher
December 27, 2022

Sept. 21: Bison

"US tribes get bison as they seek to restore bond with animal"
By Matthew Brown and Thomas Peipert, The Associated Press
March 17, 2023

Sept. 26: Redbird

"Joy Harjo's poem 'Redbird Love' teaches us to watch closely, see clearly"
By Ray Levy Uyeda
February 4, 2023

Sept. 28: Sea Turtle

"Can conservation measures save sea turtles from climate change?"
By Gail DeGeorge
September 18, 2020

Oct. 3: Octopus, Hummingbird, Human

"The symphony of God's creation is the steady beat of sacred hearts"
By Steven Salido Fisher
June 14, 2023

Illustrations by Ryan McQuade