Mark Jerome Walters, a professional journalist and veterinarian, is author of the widely acclaimed books A Shadow and a Song, Six Modern Plagues, and Seeking the Sacred Raven. His writing has been praised by The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Nature and numerous other scholarly and popular publications. Dr. Walters is director of the M.A. in Digital Journalism and Design at the University of South Florida. He has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard Medical School and an associate at Harvard's Center for Health and the Global Environment. He speaks frequently on the subject of communicating science to the lay public. Dr. Walters’ reporting and writing have taken him to Africa, Asia, throughout South America and Europe, Canada and to all fifty states. He received an undergraduate degree in English literature from McGill University; a master’s from the Columbia University School of Journalism; and a D.V.M. from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Walters is a bluegrass music enthusiast and plays the 5-string banjo.