Robin Wall Kimmerer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robin Wall Kimmerer
|
|
|---|---|
Kimmerer in 2023
|
|
| Born | September 13, 1953 |
| Nationality | Citizen Potawatomi Nation American |
| Alma mater | SUNY-ESF (BS) University of Wisconsin–Madison (MS, PhD) |
| Known for | Scholarship on traditional ecological knowledge and moss ecology; Outreach to tribal communities; Creative writing |
| Awards | John Burroughs Medal Award, for Gathering Moss MacArthur Fellowship |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant ecology, Botany |
| Institutions | SUNY-ESF Centre College Transylvania University |
| Thesis | Vegetation Development and Community Dynamics in a Dated Series of Abandoned Lead-Zinc Mines in Southwestern Wisconsin (1983) |
Robin Wall Kimmerer (born September 13, 1953) is a scientist, writer, and a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She is the director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. This center is at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF).
As a scientist and a Native American, Kimmerer uses two ways of understanding nature. She combines Western science with Indigenous environmental knowledge.
Kimmerer has written many science articles and books. Her books include Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses (2003). Another famous book is Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (2013). She also narrated an audiobook version of Braiding Sweetgrass in 2016.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Robin Wall Kimmerer was born in 1953 in upstate New York. Her parents, Robert and Patricia Wall, encouraged her love for nature. Spending time outdoors helped her deeply appreciate the environment. Kimmerer is an official citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
Kimmerer went to college close to home. She studied at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. In 1975, she earned a bachelor's degree in botany, which is the study of plants. After college, she worked for two years as a microbiologist.
Later, Kimmerer moved to Wisconsin to continue her studies. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. There, she earned her master's degree in botany in 1979. She then completed her PhD in plant ecology in 1983. While studying forests, she first learned about mosses. Mosses then became a main focus of her scientific work.
Career in Science and Teaching
After finishing her studies in Wisconsin, Kimmerer moved to Kentucky. She taught briefly at Transylvania University. Then, she moved to Danville, Kentucky, where she taught biology, botany, and ecology at Centre College. She became a tenured professor at Centre College. In 1993, Kimmerer returned to her home in upstate New York. She now teaches at her old college, ESF.
Kimmerer teaches in the Environmental and Forest Biology Department at ESF. Her courses cover topics like land and culture, and the ecology of mosses. She also teaches about ethnobotany, which is the study of how people use plants.
She directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at ESF. This center helps Indigenous students study environmental science. It also helps science learn from Native ways of thinking. The goal is to work together for a sustainable future.
Combining Knowledge: Two-Eyed Seeing
Kimmerer supports the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) approach. She calls TEK a "way of knowing." TEK is based on long-term observation and relationships with nature. It also includes cultural and spiritual ideas. Western science often ignores these ideas.
As a botanist trained in Western science, she respects both ways of knowing. She calls using both "Two-eyed seeing." This means looking at the world through the lens of science and through Indigenous wisdom. She believes both are important for understanding our planet.
Family History and Language
Kimmerer's work is partly inspired by her family's past. Her grandfather, also a Citizen Potawatomi, went to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. This school was one of the first American Indian boarding schools. These schools tried to make Native children forget their culture. They were not allowed to speak their own language.
Kimmerer knows how important it is to keep the Potawatomi language alive. She took Potawatomi language classes to learn it. She believes that "when a language dies, so much more than words are lost." Her current work includes traditional ecological knowledge, moss ecology, and creative writing. She also works to help Indigenous communities.
Helping Students and Communities
Kimmerer has helped with the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) project. This project connects students of color with professors in environmental biology. They work together on research projects.
Kimmerer is also part of the United States Department of Agriculture's Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program. This program gives students real-world experiences to solve complex problems. She is involved with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). She also works with the Onondaga Nation's school to help the community.
Kimmerer uses both traditional knowledge and science for ecological restoration. This means helping damaged natural areas heal. She has also advised the SEEDS program. This program helps more minority students become ecologists. Kimmerer used to lead the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section of the Ecological Society of America.
In 2015, Kimmerer spoke at a United Nations meeting. She discussed how living in harmony with nature can help protect natural resources. This meeting focused on achieving sustainable development goals.
Awards and Recognition
Kimmerer received the John Burroughs Medal Award for her book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. This book combined her plant ecology knowledge with traditional wisdom about nature.
Her second book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, won the 2014 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award. Braiding Sweetgrass is about how people and the natural world depend on each other. It especially focuses on plants.
She won a second Burroughs award for an essay called "Council of the Pecans." This essay appeared in Orion magazine in 2013. Within ten years of its publication, over two million copies of Braiding Sweetgrass were sold worldwide. In 2020, Kimmerer received an honorary degree from College of the Atlantic.
In 2022, Kimmerer was given a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship. This award recognizes talented people who show exceptional creativity.
Books by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses (Oregon State University Press, 2003) ISBN: 0-87071-499-6.
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2013) ISBN: 9781571313355.
- The Serviceberry (Scribner, November 19, 2024) ISBN: 9781668072240
See also
In Spanish: Robin Wall Kimmerer para niños
