Josie Iselin is a photographer, author, and designer of many books, with her last few focusing on the ocean world of seaweeds and kelp. The Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest (Heyday Books 2026) is written and designed by Josie with illustrations by Ellen Litwiller. It builds upon her two prior books on seaweeds, The Curious World of Seaweed (Heyday Books 2019) and An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed (OSUPress 2023) in which she combines her artwork with lyrical text—bringing art, design, science and history together into each volume.

Josie is the co-director, with Marianna Leuschel, of Above/Below, a campaign to bring the recognition afforded forests on land to the kelp forests below the ocean’s surface. Above/Below’s signature effort is a web-based book titled The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp, released in 2023. It has been accessed by over 50,000 kelp-curious learners. Josie is the chief content creator, writing the text, and working closely with illustrator Ellen Litwiller. Above/Below has creating a similar webstory about the native Olympia oyster: The Alluring World of Olympia Oysters. A third webstory will focus on Southern California’s kelp forest. Josie has curated and created numerous exhibits and installations bringing kelp and seaweed imagery and science into diverse gallery spaces.

Josie holds a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard and an MFA from San Francisco State University. For over twenty-five years Josie has used her flatbed scanner and computer exclusively for generating imagery. She taught for six years in the School of Design at San Francisco State University. Synthesizing the scientific stories of our coast is her overriding passion, bringing thoughtfulness and stewardship to this extraordinary place of discovery.

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