Sneed B. Collard III

Sneed B. Collard III is an American author and biologist who has written more than eighty books for young people and adults, ranging from science and natural history titles to adventure novels and memoirs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with a marine emphasis from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in scientific instrumentation from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2006 he received the Washington Post Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award for his body of work.

Collard’s books include the picture book Beaks!, the science title Birds of Every Color, and the adult birding memoir Warblers & Woodpeckers: A Father-Son Big Year of Birding. He has also authored professional resources for educators, including Teaching Nonfiction Revision: A Professional Writer Shares Strategies, Tips, and Lessons, co-written with Vicki Spandel. His broader list features award-winning works such as The Prairie Builders—Reconstructing America’s Lost Grasslands and Fire Birds—Valuing Natural Wildfires and Burned Forests. Collard lives in Montana, where he continues to write for both young readers and adults.