Environmental artist talks science comics, the Gulf of Maine and animal sex

Artist and Environmentalist Perrin Roosevelt Ireland Explores Animal Sex in Debut Book "Poking the Squid"

Perrin Roosevelt Ireland has spent years working at the intersection of art and science, embedding herself inside laboratories, aquariums, and environmental organizations to document the natural world through illustration. Now the artist and environmentalist is bringing that unique perspective to a wider audience with her debut book, "Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex," published this year.

The book guides readers through the sex lives of hyenas, albatrosses, cephalopods, spiders, and seahorses, weaving together biological research with broader reflections on gender, sexuality, pleasure, and desire across the animal kingdom. Ireland also engages with evolutionary theory and scientific convention, questioning assumptions that have shaped how the public understands animal behavior.

Ireland studied science at Brown University, where she began filling her lab notebooks with drawings. Some of those illustrations captured stages of development that had never been visually documented, and Ireland soon found that illustration was not merely a hobby but a tool for scientific communication. That dual identity — artist and observer — has defined her career ever since.

She became the inaugural artist-in-residence at the New York Aquarium, a role that shaped much of the material in "Poking the Squid." Working alongside scientists, conservationists, and litigators advocating for laws like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Ireland came to see her role as one of advocacy through art.

"I'm not an expert. I don't want to be an expert," Ireland said. "I want to be in collaboration with all of these incredible scientists, and more importantly, these genius animals."

In the book, Ireland draws on the work of graphic memoirist Alison Bechdel as an inspiration, using personal narrative and even her two cats, Ursula and Pudge, as entry points into scientific material. The goal, she said, is to be "frank and candid about my humanity" while making the science accessible.

The book also incorporates research on same-sex sexual behavior across species, something Ireland frames as a matter of scientific rigor rather than ideology.

"In making a 200-page book about animal sex, I found that when there's more diversity in science, we get better and more accurate depictions of animal life," she said.

When asked what she learned from writing the book, Ireland offered a personal reflection: "My primary loyalty, affiliation and pronoun is earthling. What I learned from animal sex is just: I belong, I belong, I belong, we belong. I can't believe I get to be on planet earth with this unfolding."

Ireland's connection to the natural world is rooted in Maine. Her father's family has spent more than a century vacationing along the Maine coast, and her father has been involved with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust throughout her life. The part of the state where her family gathers is the same coastline where Rachel Carson once tide-pooled and wrote her ocean books.

"Rachel Carson is the reason that we have the Environmental Protection Agency, and she's a foremother to the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act," Ireland said. "A love of tide pool creatures, a love of the coast of Maine, and then going back out into the world and doing environmental advocacy — she set the model for me."

Ireland points to the Gulf of Maine as a region facing urgent environmental challenges. Scientists have found that the Gulf is warming faster than 99 percent of the world's oceans, and the effects are visible in the reproductive behavior of its inhabitants. Female lobsters are moving offshore to cooler, deeper waters, while males remain in the Gulf. North Atlantic right whales, whose reproductive cycles are heavily affected by human activity, are struggling to migrate through the same waters. Cashes Ledge, one of the most ecologically significant sites in the North Atlantic, remains without formal protection.

For Ireland, the message of "Poking the Squid" extends beyond the page. She advocates for embracing sexual diversity as a form of biodiversity and for participating in local conservation efforts, from beach cleanups to financial support for preservation organizations.

"If you love albatross and their seven-year love affairs, then participating in beach cleanups and chipping a few bucks toward people that are working on conservation at the local level — our work is to continue to insist on being inspired and engaged with the conservation projects that are underway," she said.

"Poking the Squid" is Ireland's first book and represents the culmination of nearly two decades of work bridging art, science, and environmental advocacy.