By Lisa Carolin
Chelsea area resident Amy Crawford enjoys writing about nature. The journalist and naturalist has combined her interests and talents in her just-released book Undesirable: Invasive Species, Humans, and Where We All Belong.
Join Crawford for a free release-day event at Serendipity Books in Chelsea on Monday, August 3, 2026, at 7 p.m. Crawford will do a reading, answer questions, and sign books.
A release about the book includes, “Invasive species are consistently vilified as a major threat to the ecosystems we call home. But Undesirable reveals there is much more to this story and offers surprising ideas about our relationship with the natural world. Through case studies, historical surveys, media criticism, and conversations with both experts and the ordinary people who serve as foot soldiers in the war on invasive species, this book explores how confronting our deeper anxieties about nature and our roles in a changing world can help us see our ‘unwanted’ neighbors in a new light and teach us all to be better stewards.”
For Crawford, the impetus for Undesirable: Invasive Species, Humans, and Where We All Belong revolves around humans.
“I’ve always been struck by the hyperbolic language people use to talk about invasive species, and the idea that they’re vicious, merciless, and somehow ‘taking over’ native ecosystems,” said Crawford. “Clearly some non-native species do cause disruption, but the issue is also connected to nativism, anxiety about environmental change and even post-colonial guilt.”
“There are also fascinating scientific controversies and thorny ethical quandaries, like is it okay to kill animals like horses and cats just because they aren’t native?” she questioned.
Visitors to the Saturday Chelsea Farmers Market may know Crawford as a vendor with her family at Crane’s Path Farm, which sells naturally grown produce at the market as well as at Agricole.
Crawford was born in Washington, D.C., and moved around the country, finally settling in Ann Arbor before moving to a small farm near Chelsea in 2024 in search of more space.
“I got my start writing for newspapers in Pennsylvania and California, then turned to freelance writing around the time my first kid was born,” said Crawford. “I’ve written for Smithsonian Magazine for many years, and more recently I’ve contributed a lot of stories to Nature Conservancy Magazine, including stories about the Great Lakes and Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.”
As far as her goals for the future, Crawford says, “If people like this book, I’d like to write another someday. Meanwhile, I’m thinking of getting into beekeeping.”
Crawford’s new book Undesirable: Invasive Species, Humans, and Where We All Belong is available online and in-person at Serendipity Books and other booksellers.
