Changemaker
Robin Wall Kimmerer
TL;DR
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a Potawatomi botanist who teaches plant ecology at SUNY and founded the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Her book Braiding Sweetgrass argues that Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge belong together. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2022 and received the National Humanities Medal in 2023.
Potawatomi botanist and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor who founded the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Author of Braiding Sweetgrass. MacArthur Fellow 2022.
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she founded and directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. The center builds programs that draw on Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge together, not as rivals.
She trained as a plant ecologist, with a botany degree from SUNY and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, and her writing came later. Braiding Sweetgrass is the book most people know her for. Gathering Moss came first and won the John Burroughs Medal, and The Serviceberry followed, on abundance and reciprocity in the natural world.
She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2022 and received the National Humanities Medal in 2023.
Why OGSP Recommends It
Robin has spent her career showing that Indigenous knowledge and Western science are stronger together than apart, and she built a centre at SUNY to teach indigenous knowledge. Braiding Sweetgrass has changed how a lot of people see the natural world and their place in it, which makes Robin a perfect candidate as a One Good Story Project Change Maker.
Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- She founded and directs the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at SUNY, which builds programs drawing on both Indigenous and scientific knowledge.
- Braiding Sweetgrass grew out of her work as a plant ecologist rather than the other way round, and her earlier book Gathering Moss won the John Burroughs Medal.
- She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2022 and received the National Humanities Medal in 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Robin Wall Kimmerer?
A botanist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and founded the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, and she wrote Braiding Sweetgrass.
What is the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment?
A center Kimmerer founded at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. It builds programs that draw on Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge together rather than treating them as separate ways of understanding the natural world.
What awards has Robin Wall Kimmerer won?
She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2022 and received the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Her earlier book Gathering Moss won the John Burroughs Medal.
What else has she written besides Braiding Sweetgrass?
Gathering Moss, a natural and cultural history of mosses, came first. The Serviceberry followed, on abundance and reciprocity in the natural world. Braiding Sweetgrass was also adapted for young readers in 2022.