Just in time for holiday shopping, a new coloring book for kids offers creativity and inspiration by featuring illustrations of women in STEM careers, including a University of Colorado glaciologist.

The coloring book, called “STEM Super Stars: Women of Today Changing The World,” highlights 25 women, including Boulder glaciologist Alison Banwell. It aims to celebrate women in careers across science, technology, engineering and math and normalize women holding those jobs. In the back of the book, there are photos and short bios of each featured woman, including more information about their day-to-day work.

“I just want it to be normal for girls to grow up thinking they can do and be anything they want,” author Kathy Kale Nelson said.

Nelson, who was born in Pueblo and now lives in Minnesota, has been an electrical engineer for 32 years. During the pandemic, she started a podcast about and featuring women in STEM. One of the messages coming back to her from those conversations is the need to normalize women in those jobs in mass media by showcasing them in books and TV shows. That inspired Nelson to create the coloring book, which was published in November.

In 2022, Nelson went to Antarctica on a tourist cruise where she learned a lot about glaciers. She decided she wanted a glaciologist on the podcast, so Nelson searched online and found Banwell.

“One of the most meaningful ways to encourage girls to pursue STEM is by providing visible role models,” Banwell said in a release. She was unavailable for an interview because she’s conducting research in Antarctica. “Female leadership in Antarctic research is still rare, so it’s important for girls to see that women can and do lead world-class science in polar environments.”

Banwell studies the impact of climate change on glacier melt. She studies interactions between ice and the atmosphere and ice and the ocean, with a primary focus on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, including their ice shelves.

Nelson created the coloring book with her daughter, who did the illustrations. The coloring book is available for purchase by visiting amazon.com/dp/B0G2YSJ9XW.