Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer loves plants.

As a child, she collected seeds and leaves. She kept them in boxes under her bed.

She grew up to be a scientist. She studies how plants live. She also studies small green moss.

Robin is a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She uses her own culture to help her work. She uses two ways of knowing about nature.

She writes many books about the world. One book is about moss. Another book is about how plants and people need each other.

Her books help many people learn. She even writes stories for children. She loves to share what she knows.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a scientist and an author.

She is a botanist. This means she studies plants. She also studies moss. Moss is a small green plant. She learned a lot about moss in college.

Robin is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She uses two ways of knowing about nature. One way is Western science. The other way is Indigenous knowledge. This is a way of knowing based on long-term study. She calls this "two-eyed seeing." This means she uses both ways to understand the world.

Her family history is very important to her.

Her grandfather went to a school that tried to erase Native culture. Because of this, Robin learned the Potawatomi language. She wants to keep the language alive.

Robin writes many books. One book is called Braiding Sweetgrass. It is about how plants and people help each other. She also wrote a book about moss. She even writes books for children. Her work helps people see how we can live in harmony with nature.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a scientist and a writer.

She is a botanist, which is a person who studies plants. She also studies moss, a small green plant. Kimmerer is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She uses two different ways to understand the world. One way is Western science. The other way is Indigenous environmental knowledge. She calls this "two-eyed seeing." This means she uses both views to learn about nature. Her work helps people find ways to live in harmony with the Earth.

Kimmerer uses a special way of knowing called Traditional Ecological Knowledge. This is a method based on long-term observation and relationships. It includes cultural and spiritual ideas that some scientists often leave out. She combines this with her training in Western science. This helps her study how plants and people work together. She also uses these two views for ecological restoration. This is the work of fixing damaged parts of nature. She wants to help people reach the goal of sustainability. Sustainability means using resources in a way that lasts for a long time.

Her journey into science began in her childhood. She was born in 1953 in upstate New York. Her parents encouraged her to spend time outdoors. As a young girl, she collected seeds and pressed leaves. She kept these treasures in shoe boxes under her bed. She went to college at the State University of New York. She earned a degree in botany in 1975. Later, she earned a master's degree in 1979. She finished her PhD in plant ecology in 1983.

Kimmerer has written many important books. Her first book was called Gathering Moss, published in 2003. It won the John Burroughs Medal Award. Her second book is Braiding Sweetgrass, released in 2013. This book has sold more than two million copies. She also wrote The Democracy of Species in 2021. Her newest book is The Serviceberry, which came out in 2024. In 2022, she received a MacArthur Fellowship. She was even named to the Time 100 list in 2025. These books show how plants and people depend on each other.

Her family history shaped who she is today. Her grandfather attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. This school tried to erase Native culture from children. Because of this history, Kimmerer learned the Potawatomi language. She knows that losing a language means losing much more than words. She also helps other students through many programs. She works with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. She also helps students of color through the UMEB project. Her life shows how science and culture can work together.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a prominent botanist, author, and educator. She is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her work is unique because it combines two different worldviews. She uses Western science and Indigenous environmental knowledge together. This approach helps us understand the natural world more deeply. She has served as a director at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Her goal is to promote sustainability through science and Native philosophy.

Kimmerer uses a method she calls "two-eyed seeing." This concept means using both Western scientific methods and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). TEK is an empirical approach. It is based on long-term observation and relationship with the land. This method also includes cultural and spiritual considerations. Many in the Western scientific community often marginalize these ideas. Kimmerer believes both realms are valuable. She uses TEK and science together for ecological restoration. This is the process of helping damaged ecosystems recover.

Kimmerer's scientific focus is bryology, which is the study of mosses. She discovered her interest in moss while studying forest ecology. Her academic journey began in upstate New York. She attended SUNY-ESF and earned a bachelor's degree in botany in 1975. She then worked as a microbiologist for Bausch & Lomb. Later, she moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She earned a master's degree in botany in 1979. In 1983, she completed her PhD in plant ecology. After her studies, she taught at Transylvania University and Centre College. In 1993, she returned to SUNY-ESF to teach in the Environmental and Forest Biology Department.

Her personal history has greatly influenced her professional mission. Her paternal grandfather was a Citizen Potawatomi. He attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. This was one of the first American Indian boarding schools. The school aimed to "civilize" Native children. It forbade them from speaking their own languages. This process effectively tried to erase Native culture. Because of this, Kimmerer studied the Potawatomi language. She believes that when a language dies, much more than words are lost. She uses oral storytelling to convey values that science sometimes misses.

Kimmerer is a very successful author. Her first book, *Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses*, was published in 2003. This book won the John Burroughs Medal Award. Her second book is *Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants*. It was released in 2013. This book explores how people and plants are interdependent. It has sold more than two million copies worldwide. She also wrote *The Democracy of Species* in 2021. Her 2024 book is titled *The Serviceberry*. She even wrote a children's book called *Bud Finds Her Gift* in 2025.

She has received many prestigious honors for her work. In 2014, she won the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award. In 2022, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2024, Oregon State University gave her the Stone Award for Literary Achievement. In 2025, she was included on the Time 100 list of influential people. She also received an honorary M.Phil. degree from the College of the Atlantic in 2020. These awards recognize her impact on science and literature.

Kimmerer also works to support other scientists and students. She helped sponsor the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) project. This project pairs students of color with faculty members. She is also part of the USDA's Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program. This program helps students solve complex problems in the real world. She works with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). She also does community outreach with the Onondaga Nation's school. Through these efforts, she helps more people access environmental science. She aims to increase the number of minority ecologists in the field.