Friday July 12, 2024 6 pm at Chenery Auditorium in Kalamazoo
Free event open to the public, Book signing following talk

More information: https://naturecenter.org/programs/ttiss/

About the Speaker:  

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.  

About the Talk:  

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. 

Schedule of events on July 12: 

5:30pm Doors open 

6:00pm Introductions, Lecture and Q&A 

7:00pm Book signing.  KNC memberships 

8:30pm Doors close 

Please note that book signing will be on a first come first serve with a hard stop at 8:30.   

Parking details available at: https://www.cheneryaud.com/parking 

To request accessibility accommodations contact: Carli Thompson cthompson@naturecenter.org