NAU will host renowned author, botanist, and MacArthur Fellow Robin Wall Kimmerer for a free public talk on September 9, 2025. Kimmerer, celebrated for her book "Braiding Sweetgrass," will share insights on Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and plant teachings.

This event is part of the 17th Biennial Conference of Science & Management, organized by NAU’s Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes (CAWL). The talk will be livestreamed.

Mar 20, 2023 – UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA

Botanist, professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer is the acclaimed author of *Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants*. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

Kimmerer has been honored with the John Burroughs Medal and a MacArthur "genius" grant. Her research emphasizes the restoration of ecological communities and our relationship to land. She lives on an upstate New York farm, tending both cultivated and wild gardens.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, a mother, scientist, and Citizen Potawatomi Nation member, is an acclaimed author. Her books, including the widely praised "Braiding Sweetgrass" (also adapted for young adults) and award-winning "Gathering Moss," highlight Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, fostering ecological understanding through plants.

This short film is part of The Arachne Project, a May 2024 gathering by Oregon State University's Spring Creek Project. This diverse community of writers, scientists, and Indigenous leaders explored new visions for conservation in an uncertain future. Learn more at https://beav.es/arachne.

Dr. Kimmerer is a distinguished environmental biologist, author, and mother. She serves as a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York.

She is also the founding Director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. The Center's mission is to develop programs that integrate indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge to advance shared sustainability goals.

Indigenous cultures worldwide revere plants as ancient teachers, offering lessons in generosity, creativity, sustainability, and joy. Their living examples inspire how we might live.

Blending Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with botanical science, Potawatomi professor Robin Kimmerer explores what plants teach us and how we can become better students.

Since 1990, Bioneers has served as a vital hub for social and scientific innovators, providing practical solutions for pressing environmental and social challenges.

This excerpt presents Dr. Kimmerer's speech from the Center for Humans and Nature's 2014 Forum on Ethics & Nature. Originally published on EarthSayers.tv on March 15, 2016, the full address is available here.

In her speech, Dr. Kimmerer explores "The Honorable Harvest," offering it as a crucial framework for sustainable living.