Long-time Chestnut Hill resident (30 years, and before that, eight years in Wyndmoor) Doug Wechsler, one of the most prolific nature writers in the country, might well be called the Charles Darwin of Chestnut Hill.

Wechsler, who retired 10 years ago after 28 years at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Center City and is now a full-time author/photographer, has made dozens of research expeditions around the world, exploring the environment and wildlife. He also has written 26 books on natural science for children. His latest, “What Good is a Dead Tree?: A Science Mystery,” was released April 7 by Millbrook Press.

It is already receiving impressive reviews. According to one in Kirkus Reviews, “For those who just want the gist, he offers a bulleted summary of high spots at the end, plus guidelines for safe and minimally invasive investigations of rotting logs in the wild. He tunnels into its topic with gusto and precision.”

“I have been looking for creatures under logs all my life,” Wechsler told the Local last week. “More recently, I started looking inside logs to see what lives there and to photograph the log dwellers. Thinking about the role of each of these critters, as well as the fungi I found, I wanted kids to have a book that would inspire the type of exploration I have enjoyed and that would help them understand how life in the log recycles what was once a tree.”

Wechsler grew up in Oyster Bay, Long Island, and graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio with a degree in biology. One of his professors, Edwin O. Willis, had a significant influence on him.

“I was already interested in the idea of visiting tropical forests,” Wechsler said, “but he was the one actually responsible for getting me there. He introduced me to tropical forests, and I learned a great deal about their natural history and ecology.

“Though I had watched birds since I was 5, it was from him that I learned the importance of using your ears to find and identify birds. The work with Professor Willis for a month in Panama and six months in Brazil opened doors to my future work in tropical forests.”

As a child, Wechsler knew all of the birds, snakes, frogs and salamanders in his neighborhood. He spent much of his time in the woods and fields near his house. He also got the idea — maybe from the TV show “Wild Kingdom” — that he would explore animals in Africa when he grew up. That actually became partly true since he did spend a month in the African country of Cameroon, catching birds to photograph them.

Wechsler’s first book was inspired by insect photos he took in Costa Rica. While working out of a house deep in the jungle, he would bring back the strangest insect he found each day and call it the “weird bug of the day.” Ten years later, many of those insects were featured in his book, “Bizarre Bugs.”

In March, Wechsler returned from four weeks in the forests of Ecuador with his wife, Debbie, where he volunteered for the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation and conducted research for upcoming books about insects. He also produces the army of photos for his books.

“In Ecuador,” he said, “I photographed insects to illustrate those books. I met up with Northern warrior wasps, tarantula hawks and my old friends, the army ants.”

Wechsler, who had a book-signing at booked. in Chestnut Hill on April 11, took most of the photos in the new book within 10 miles of his house, mostly in Wissahickon Valley Park and the various Wissahickon Trails preserves.

The author, whose books are in countless school libraries, told us why, as his new book explains, a decomposing tree is still valuable.

“A decomposing tree,” he said, “is home to many life forms, fungi, insects, toads, mice, snakes and chipmunks. The log slowly releases nutrients into the soil so that the forest can continue to grow. I hope that the book will inspire exploration by young people, broaden their understanding of how nature works and sell a million copies.”

What is the best advice Wechsler ever received? “Buy a camera and lots of film,” he said. “This advice was given to me by David Egloff, my ecology professor, as I was leaving college and headed for six months studying birds in the Amazon.”

What is the hardest thing Wechsler ever had to do? “Professionally speaking, self-publishing a book (‘The Cicadas Are Coming!’). In addition to writing and photographing, I had to raise funds, lay out the book, find a copy editor and market the book, among other tasks. Still it was rewarding, and it led me to fully appreciate the value of having a publisher.”

For more information, visit dougwechsler.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.