Matthew Chapman and Sheril Kirshenbaum

Matthew Chapman was born in Cambridge, England. He came to America in the 80s and has lived here ever since, first in Los Angeles, then for the last ten years in New York.

His latest book is 40 Days and 40 Nights – Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, OxyContin, and Other Oddities On Trial in Pennsylvania. Published by Harper/Collins, it tells the story of a small town ripped apart when fundamentalism and science came in conflict.

He also wrote Trials Of The Monkey – An Accidental Memoir. Published by Picador, it is an account of the Scopes Trial told in the form of a road trip Chapman took to the town where the trial took place, along with a memoir of his childhood growing up as a descendent of Charles Darwin.

He has written and directed five independent movies and written several mainstream pictures, among them Consenting Adults, (Dir. Alan Pakula, with Kevin Spacey and Kevin Kline); Color of Night (Dir. Richard Rush, with Bruce Willis,) and co-wrote Runaway Jury, (Dir. Gary Fleder, with Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, John Cusack, and Rachel Weisz.)

He is currently preparing a feature film, The Ledge, which he wrote and will direct.



Sheril is Associate in Research for Ocean and Coastal Policy at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions in Durham, North Carolina. She is involved in conservation initiatives regionally and locally across levels of government (scienceblogs.com/intersection/about.php#Sheril).