Robin

Wall Kimmerer

Plant Ecologist, Educator & Writer

MacArthur Fellow

Travels from: Syracuse, NY

“Robin’s generous spirit and rich scholarship invited the audience to fundamentally reimagine their relationship to the natural world.” — Queen’s University

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us.

Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow.

As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.

Robin’s Authors Outside Profile:

Robin's Featured Titles

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

Zest Books |

November 1, 2022

Nonfiction

Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer demonstrated how all living things–from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen–provide us with gifts and lessons every day in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. With informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults brings Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.

Campus Reads, Environmental Concerns, Female Author, Native American & Indigenous Authors, Nonfiction, The Natural World, Young Adult

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Milkweed Editions |

October 20, 2020

Nonfiction

A New York Times Bestseller

A Washington Post Bestseller

A Los Angeles Times Bestseller

Named a “Best Essay Collection of the Decade” by Literary Hub

A Book Riot “Favorite Summer Read of 2020”

A Food Tank Fall 2020 Reading Recommendation

Updated with a new introduction from Robin Wall Kimmerer, the special edition of Braiding Sweetgrass, reissued in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Milkweed Editions, celebrates the book as an object of meaning that will last the ages. Beautifully bound with a new cover featuring an engraving by Tony Drehfal, this edition includes a bookmark ribbon and five brilliantly colored illustrations by artist Nate Christopherson. In increasingly dark times, we honor the experience that more than 350,000 readers in North America have cherished about the book–gentle, simple, tactile, beautiful, even sacred–and offer an edition that will inspire readers to gift it again and again, spreading the word about scientific knowledge, indigenous wisdom, and the teachings of plants.

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings–asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass–offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Bestseller, Campus Reads, Female Author, Native American & Indigenous Authors, Nonfiction, Science & Technology, The Natural World

Gathering Moss

Oregon State University Press |

March 1, 2003

Nonfiction

Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods and rednecks. Kimmerer clearly and artfully explains the biology of mosses, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.

Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.

Gathering Moss will appeal to a wide range of readers, from bryologists to those interested in natural history and the environment, Native Americans, and contemporary nature and science writing.

Female Author, Native American & Indigenous Authors, Science & Technology, The Natural World

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

This talk explores the dominant themes of Braiding Sweetgrass which include cultivation of a reciprocal relationship with the living world. Listeners are invited to consider what we might learn if we understood plants as our teachers, from both a scientific and an indigenous perspective. The talk includes a look at the stories and experiences that shaped the author. This talk can be customized to reflect the interests of the particular audience.

What Does the Earth Ask of Us?

We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth and yet we are tied to institutions which relentlessly ask what more can we take? Drawing upon both scientific and indigenous knowledges, this talk explores the covenant of reciprocity, how might we use the gifts and the responsibilities of human people in support of mutual thriving in a time of ecological crisis.

The Honorable Harvest: Indigenous knowledge for sustainability

Honorable Harvest is a talk designed for a general audience which focuses upon indigenous philosophy and practices which contribute to sustainability and conservation. It offers approaches to how indigenous knowledge might contribute to a transformation in how we view our relationship to consumption and move us away from a profoundly dishonorable relationship with the Earth. This talk can be customized to reflect the interests of the particular audience

“We the People”: expanding the circle of citizenship for public lands

This talk is designed to critique the notions of “We, the People” through the lens of the indigenous worldview, by highlighting an indigenous view of what land means, beyond property rights to land, toward responsibility for land. The talk raises the question of whose voices are heard in decision making about land stewardship, and how indigenous voices are often marginalized. It raises questions of what does justice for land and indigenous people look like and calls upon listeners to contribute to that work of creating justice. This talk can be customized to reflect the interests of the particular audience.

Justice for the Land

How we understand the meaning of land, colors our relationship to the natural world, in ecology, economics and ethics. Indigenous knowledge frameworks dramatically expand the conventional understanding of lands, from natural resources to relatives, from land rights to land responsibilities. We consider what enacting justice for the land might look like, through restoration, reparations and Rights of Nature.

Learning the Grammar of Animacy: land, love, language

The Personhood of Plants

Restoration and reciprocity: healing relationships with the natural world

Ecological restoration can be understood as an act of reciprocity, in return for the gifts of the earth. This talk explores the ecological and ethical imperatives of healing the damage we have inflicted on our land and waters. We trace the evolution of restoration philosophy and practice and consider how integration of indigenous knowledge can expand our understanding of restoration from the biophysical to the biocultural. Reciprocal restoration includes not only healing the land, but our relationship to land. In healing the land, we are healing ourselves.

The Fortress, the River and the Garden: a new metaphor for knowledge symbiosis

This talk is designed primarily for an audience focused on education and how we might decolonize education by integrating indigenous knowledge as a complement to western scientific knowledge. The talk examines the relationship between three metaphors for types of knowledge. The Fortress is the metaphor for the dominance of western science and its virtual erasure of indigenous knowledge, the River refers to indigenous models of autonomy and coexistence between western and indigenous knowledge and the Garden examines the potential for a productive symbiosis between western and indigenous knowledges which could grow together in complementarity. This talk can be customized to reflect the interests of the particular audience.

Land Justice: Engaging Indigenous Knowledge for Land Care

What might Land Justice look like? Dr. Kimmerer will explore Indigenous perspectives on land conservation, from biocultural restoration to Land Back. This discussion invites listeners to consider how engaging Traditional Ecological Knowledge contributes to justice for land and people.

MacArthur Fellow, Class of 2022

Robin Kimmerer – Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass | Bioneers

Questions for a Resilient Future: Robin Wall Kimmerer

Book Lovers Ball 2020 presented by Milkweed Editions

History Colorado, 2023
“Our entire experience with Ms. Kimmerer was exceptional. Not only is her work more relevant than ever, her talk was inspiring and hopeful. Our audiences walked away with wisdom and hope for a brighter future. Her kindness and authenticity are only matched by her eloquent storytelling. Hosting Ms. Kimmerer was the highlight of our year!”

Hamilton College, 2023
“…it was so inspirational the way Robin answered the students’ questions, turning the questions back to them and giving them agency to help find solutions to these big issues.”

Indiana Humanities, 2023
“Robin was so thoughtful and engaged with our attendees. She was curious about Indiana, and asked questions to help connect with audiences here. From the stage, her insights were deeply considered, but not without moments of levity.

U of Kentucky, 2023
“Robin Wall Kimmerer is a delightful person, both on stage and off. Both her keynote and her more informal conversation event were energizing, refreshing, and compelling to so many participants—we continue to receive glowing feedback about how transformative Robin’s visit was and continues to be. Robin was also incredibly patient and gracious with us—she probably signed 150 books during her visit. Thank you, Robin!”

Guilford College, 2023
“Dr. Kimmerer’s talk was highly engaging and informative, and the audience loved her. Her sensitivity and caring were clearly communicated in her ability to connect to students, faculty, staff, and the community. Her message of our relationships with nature and its importance inspired the audience to reflect on their roles in the environment, finding their gifts, and seeking beauty and science in the natural world. She is a wonderful speaker!”

Washington State U, 2023
“Robin Wall Kimmerer was as gracious, generous, and warm in person as her narrative voice in Braiding Sweetgrass! Her warmth and welcome, combined with her insightful presentation, invite her audience to welcome and thoughtfully consider new ways of thinking about themselves and their connections to their more-than-human companions. In my nearly twenty years of hosting authors on campus, Kimmerer’s talk elicited an outpouring of responses that are unique in the level of gratitude expressed by attendees.”

“Robin’s talk was thought-provoking and moving. Her answers to audience questions were generous without being wordy, which is unusual. She handled a politically delicate question deftly. In addition, because Robin straddles so many areas of thought, her visit enabled us to braid together various strands of our own community. Professors from three areas—biology, environmental humanities, and Native American history—worked together on this event, from proposal to execution. Their students all benefited. In addition, we used Robin’s visit to strengthen ties with the Catawba Nation, a local tribe. Robin’s visit, in other words, helped us to strengthen our community, on and beyond campus.” – Davidson College, 2023

“Robin Wall Kimmerer was not only the most thoughtful, most forceful, and most impassioned speaker we have had to-date, she was the most stirring. As one of the attendees told me afterward, Robin’s talk was not merely enriching, it was a genuinely transformational experience. Several people told me that they were planning to wild their lawns and till new gardens to reconnect with the land and rebuild their communities after heeding Robin’s message. Robin truly made the setting feel intimate and her subject feel vital. Perhaps greatest of all, she renewed our hope and love for the natural world.” – U of Texas Austin

“Dr. Kimmerer’s visit exceeded all of the (high!) expectations I had. She was incredibly warm and kind to all and was particularly attentive and generous toward our students. Indeed, after having lunch with the Native American Student Union, she spent the afternoon rewriting parts of her lecture to better address the topics they had expressed the most interest in. This was truly above and beyond and is illustrative of her deep commitment to young people and to teaching. The Colorado College Environmental Studies Program brings prestigious speakers to campus regularly, but Dr. Kimmerer’s visit was by far the most successful and impactful of any that I have been a part of.” Professor Corina McKendry, Director, Colorado College Environmental Studies Program.

“In a world where so many environmental speakers leave the younger generation feeling doom and gloom, Robin gives her audience hope and tangible ways of acting that allow students to feel they can make change. She marries two worlds that are relatable for young people while inspiring them they can do the same. She also draws her audience back to the norms of human society in North America for the majority of human existence on this continent, reminding us there was for a very long time a sustainable way of living here.” Taft School, 2022

“Robin is a charismatic speaker who engages her audience through captivating stories passed down through generations, by sharing her expansive knowledge of plants and animals, providing actionable insights and guidance, and through her infectious love and appreciation for our natural world. It felt like medicine just to be in her presence. I don’t know if this is going to come out with language to match how I felt in her presence. What a gift Robin is to the world. I see the responsibility she holds, and shall I say burden it must be to present at an event at Kripalu. To be on stolen Mohican lands while speaking to a largely white bodied audience- the weight of this is not lost on me. The emotional lift that she must hold is not lost on me. I am so grateful that she is willing to offer so freely her story telling gift, love of land and plants, her social justice fire (god, I love a fiery woman!), poetry and kindness. She was far kinder and generous of her time than required. She sat next to grieving woman as I would imagine she holds her own grieving heart. She stayed for book signing so that everyone had a chance to have a moment with her. She really is a beautiful expression of heart, spirit and mind-perhaps she is the medicine wheel. My heart is full, and my mind changed.” – Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, 2022

“Dr. Kimmerer was so gracious and curious about us, and the questions she asked led to an experience specific to us – words that we needed to hear to encourage and inspire us to the next steps in our pursuit of a better relationship with the land and with our other than human relatives.” – Gettysburg College

“The response to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s event at Howard County Library has been nothing less than thunderous with appreciation. The empathy and knowledge of her presentation came across like poetry. We are so appreciative of her visit with our community, and how her shared wisdom has strengthened us individually and collectively.” – Howard County Reads, 2022

“Robin harmoniously brings together Indigenous knowledge and teachings to illustrate the importance of caring for the earth, one another and everything more than human. With a kind and humble style, her talk and engagement with the audience offered valuable thoughts for reflection. We are grateful for the opportunity to gather as a learning community to listen to Robin’s wisdom and stories. ” – Langara College, 2022

“Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mesmerizing speaker and a brilliant thinker. Our venue was packed with more than two thousand people, and yet, with Robin onstage, the event felt warm and intimate, like a gathering of close friends. Her book, BRAIDING SWEETGRASS, explores Indigenous wisdom alongside botany and beautiful writing about caregiving and creativity. She’s a generous speaker whose energizing ideas and reflections inspire readers and listeners to make changes in their lives—to share their unique gifts with the Earth.” — Milkweed Editions, 2022

“Our annual fundraiser event to support San Francisco Botanical Garden’s youth education programs and extraordinary plant collections with Robin Wall Kimmerer as special guest speaker went seamlessly and we achieved our $400,000 fundraising goal. Robin received a standing ovation from the crowd and moved several attendees to tears with her powerful, inspiring speech. Working with Robin and her team felt like a true partnership and we can’t recommend them highly enough.” — San Francisco Botanical Garden

“Robin Wall Kimmerer was a pleasure to work with as a keynote speaker. Robin’s words were truly inspiring and engaging and we received much positive feedback from people wanting to be more mindful of indigenous perspectives and history when conserving lands. In the feedback, we heard the words: Humbling. Challenging. Provocative. Compelling. Emotional. Inspired. Robin’s talk got a number of people expanding their thinking as they work to build their awareness of restoration and reciprocity into their conservation work. Robin helped to inspire the NH conservation community to be more in tune with the long history, since time immemorial, of indigenous people caring for our lands. Thank you, Robin, for sharing your heritage and knowledge with us, so that we may work to make a positive change for a better future.” — New Hampshire Land Conservation Conference, 2022

“Connecting people with the wonder, beauty and value of trees and plants for healthier communities is our mission at Holden Forests & Gardens. Robin’s reverence and her philosophy of nature are guiding lights for the public garden world as we work to heal our communities through greater appreciation of plants and trees. Her lecture was our best attended to date and we’ll be referring back to it in the years to come.” — Kent State University, 2022

“Gonzaga University hosted Robin Wall Kimmerer for a virtual event centered around her book, BRAIDING SWEETGRASS. She was able to speak to a diverse audience in a way that was welcoming and engaging, while also inviting us all to see the world in new ways. Her interaction with our panelists, which included students and faculty, was particularly conversational and inviting. Her presence coupled with her passion and expertise made for an incredibly impactful evening for our Gonzaga community!” — Gonzaga University, 2022

“Working with Robin and her team at Authors Unbound has been a streamlined, clear process. This four-day campus residency with Dr. Kimmerer has been a tremendous asset to our learning, teaching, and research communities on campus. We plan to continue to address the questions and ideas she has left us with as we continue future UO Common Reading programming.” — U of Oregon, 2022

“Dr. Kimmerer guided our institution at a difficult time of transformation, where we are struggling with how to integrate traditional ecological knowledge at all levels of our operations, from facilities to recruitment to pedagogy. Her wisdom is holistic, healing, and a guiding compass for where we want to go. She couldn’t have come to us at a more ripe time for change, and gave us needed direction for navigating the murky and seemingly paradoxical waters of institutionalizing justice. Her expertise in multiple ways of knowing, higher education, and environmental health is exemplary of what we’re trying to achieve as we refashion our university as a polytechnic on indigenous land.”— Humboldt State University, 2021

“As the keynote to our annual environmental and sustainability education conference, Dr. Kimmerer, added and highlighted heart and thoughtful reflection to the energy of our whole conference.” — E3 Washington Conference, 2021

“Robin is a delightful guest. She is generous with readers, always responding to their questions in detail and engaging in a manner that feels like a conversation (not just a Q&A). Our readers were extremely engaged by the book and thrilled to hear Robin speak in person. Our event was a great success.”— Rochester Reads, 2021

“We are grateful to have had the chance to host Dr. Kimmerer on our campus. The presentation — though virtual — still managed to feel vital, even intimate. Dr. Kimmerer radiated calm and warmth. Many of our favorite moments from the book were revisited and expanded upon.”— Truman University, 2021

“Our author visit with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer was went so smoothly. She was in conversation with a moderator and flowed seamlessly from conversation to answering attendee questions. The community was so engaged in the themes Robin covered as well as just taking a moment to hear an author speak on something they know so much about. That’s the key – Robin is so knowledgeable and thoughtful, which are really the two attributes that made this a success.”— Arlington Heights, One Book One Village – 2021

“In a world in which predominant messaging often centers on owning things to make life rewarding, Robin turns that vision on its head. She reminds listeners of the wisdom of indigenous perspectives that ask what we can give back to the Earth. Our students were challenged to look at their relationship with nature and each other in a new way as she skillfully wove in graphics and elder wisdom. She challenged the audience while leaving them with a message of hope that they can be part of the change we need to address climate change, habitat loss, and other critical ecological challenges.”— Lawrenceville School, 2021

“Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer is an outstanding connector. Her virtual talk with the National Writers Series brought together 700 people from across northern Michigan: environmental activists, gardening enthusiasts, book lovers, and more. She speaks the way she writes, with poetry and intention that inspires an audience and gives them the tools to move forward as better stewards of our world.”— National Writers Series, 2021

“Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer presented (virtually) the 24th annual Wege Lecture in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on May 27, 2021. Nearly 2,900 individuals preregistered for the event, which included a panel discussion with local Native American and diversity leaders. Dr. Kimmerer gave a compelling prepared presentation on reciprocity and restoring human relationships with the land. She devoted significant time and effort in advance of the lecture to familiarize herself with the local context, including reviewing written materials and participating in an advance webinar briefing for her by local leaders. She did a marvelous job in seamlessly integrating the local context into her prepared remarks and in participating knowledgeably in the ensuing panel discussion and Q&A session. Dr. Kimmerer and her agent, Christie Hinrichs, were responsive and helpful during the entire planning process; they were a delight to work with.”— Wege Foundation, 2021

“We are so grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to connect Robin Wall Kimmerer with an intimate group of students at Big Picture High School day for a soul-enriching conversation on writing, attention and care, and nurture for the Earth! it was honestly such a balm, (I wish everyone could have witnessed!) Robin was just as generous with her questioning of students and their projects, and they were incredibly wise and thoughtful with their questions to her!”— Seattle Arts & Lectures

“Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s presentation was all I had hoped for and more. I’ve heard her speak in podcasts and have read her books, but having her live was magical. Her presence is calming and provides hope on issues that can be scary and overwhelming. The first look at our survey responses from attendees has been overwhelmingly outstanding with all comments being positive and many attendees wishing we could have spent many more hours absorbing her knowledge. Dr. Kimmerer mentions that being an educated person means know the gifts that you have to share and I feel so lucky that she shared her many gifts with us.”— Alachua Library, 2021

“Dr. Kimmerer’s visit was among the highlights of our year! She is an inspiring speaker and a generous teacher. Her message about ecological reciprocity is not only urgent and timely but also hopeful. What’s more, her work is meaningful and relevant to a wide variety of scholarly disciplines—the sciences as well as the humanities. We are so grateful to Dr. Kimmerer for visiting our community and sharing with us some glimpses of her remarkable career.”— U of St. Thomas, 2021

“It was such an honor to bring Robin and our other speakers together. They were so generous with their time and stories – it was a different type of talk/event than we typically have with our restoration community, but very appreciated. And very necessary. At the beginning of the event, attendees typed in where they were located, and at the end people typed in what they were going to do with this gift of stories they received. In the days since the event I have heard from so many colleagues who were impacted deeply and who are applying some of the stories to their lives and work. Robin spoke to the importance of reciprocity to the land and wove in our group’s focus on river restoration throughout. I am so grateful for her time, and yours.”— River Restoration

“Robin was a passionate, engaging speaker in spite of the event being held virtually. Her message of inclusion and diversity touched the audience and motivated us all to be better teachers, students, and members of the earth community.”— Brigham Young University

“Dr. Kimmerer was the perfect speaker to kick off our spring semester at Normandale Community College. She thoughtfully addressed the questions of cultural inclusivity in the academy that our campus is working on, and her keynote address inspired genuine questions and meaningful changes to our courses and campus policies. We hope we can invite her back in the future to share her insights with even more of our campus community.”— Normandale Community College

“ would absolutely recommend Robin Wall Kimmerer as a speaker. She was so generous with her time. During our tech check, she listened to all of our questions (and some gushing about her work; she also asked us more about our work at the museum so that she could better tailor her remarks to our audience. Her talk, therefore, was incredibly insightful, rooted not only in her area of expertise, but also making specific connections to the museum. Our audience expressed so much gratitude for the opportunity to hear her words, and our staff are thinking about art through an entirely new lens. I couldn’t have asked for more!”— Minneapolis Museum of Art

“Dr. Kimmerer was a joy to work with. She fully embraced the format of our program, and welcomed with such humility and enthusiasm the opportunity to share the stage with our other guest: exhibiting artist Olivia Whetung. Robin immediately understood the connections between each body of work, and provided meaningful responses that brought to light the common themes. It was a compelling dialogue that left guests satisfied and thinking about big ideas.”— Campbell River Art Gallery

“Robin’s generous spirit and rich scholarship invited the audience to fundamentally reimagine their relationship to the natural world. Instead of viewing themselves as positioned above, audience members were invited to see the way they are embedded within and a part of nature. This reorientation is what is required for humans to reimagine a world in which natural elements (particularly plants) are not only teachers but also relatives. If humanity is to mitigate unprecedented rates of climate change these are precisely the teachings that must be shared.”— Queen’s University

“ We could not have chosen a better keynote speaker for the Feinberg series. Robin’s lecture set the perfect tone for the series overall and provided a sorely-needed antidote to narratives of hopelessness and apocalypse, as well as to the dangerous notion that we can “technofix” our way out of environmental crisis. We’ve received feedback from viewers around the world who were moved and changed in their relationship to our earth through Robin’s teachings.”— UMass Amherst Feinberg Series

“Dr. Kimmerer was wonderful to work with and crafted her talk to our audience and goals. We have received so much positive feedback from attendees and hope we are able to host her again.”— Michigan State University

“Nocturne was pleased to feature Robin Wall Kimmerer as our keynote event in our festival. It was a unique opportunity to bring together the author, our curator Lindsay Dobbin, and artist Shalan Joudry. Robin was generous with her time and her knowledge and our attendees were entranced for the full event. Thank you to Authors Unbound for helping to facilitate this unique and important conversation.”— Nocturne Festival – Canada

“Robin was such a joy to work with from start to finish. She is a great listener and listened to our goals as a company as well as listening to our community and fully taking the time to answer each of their questions thoughtfully throughout the entirety of the webinar. We hope to host Robin again in the future – maybe in person!”— Christy Dawn Dresses – CA

Upcoming Events

Discussion Guide for Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Elected to U.S. National Academy of Sciences 2023
2022 MacArthur Fellow
NYT Bestseller
Midwest Book Award Winner
Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award 2022 – Braiding Sweetgrass
John Burroughs Association