The Calcasieu Parish Central Library, located at the corner of Ernest and W. Claude streets in Lake Charles, will host a presentation and book signing at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, by Dr. Gay M. Gomez, associate professor of geography at McNeese State University and author of “The Louisiana Coast: Guide to an American Wetland.”

The book, published by Texas A&M University Press, is part natural history and part field guide that takes readers across one of only three major chenier plains in the world to the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest river basin swamp on the continent, and through the network of bayous, natural levees, cypress swamps, marshes and barrier islands of the Deltaic Plain.

Color photographs illustrate chapters on vegetation, wildlife and the rich human culture that defines Louisiana. The book also leads visitors to nature trails, wildlife refuges, Audubon sanctuaries and parks. A visitor’s guide at the end of the book features destinations open to the public for wildlife watching, photography and even hunting, fishing, crabbing and cast netting.

A professional nature guide and longtime activist and champion for the preservation of the state’s wetlands, Gomez has served on the board of directors for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Louisiana Ornithological Society and on the advisory board for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ White Lake Wetland Conservation Area.