Robert Vennell is an ecologist and best-selling natural history author. His first book The Meaning of Trees was listed as one of the best non-fiction books of 2019 by Canvas, Newsroom and The Listener and was longlisted for an Ockham New Zealand Book Award. His second book Secrets of the Sea was selected as a finalist in the illustrated non-fiction category of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2023. The Forgotten Forest released in 2023 explores the hidden world of mushrooms, mosses and moulds and was longlisted for the Libro.Fm Audiobook of the Year award. His latest, Song of the Birds tells the story of Aotearoa from a birds-eye view. He works as a curator in the Natural Science department at Auckland Museum.