Last year, we featured five conservationists, environmentalists, and outdoor leaders for Women’s History Month. This year, we’re excited to feature additional women who are influencing environmental causes today through their writing, editing, and adventures in the outdoors.
Robin Wall Kimmerer authored the bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass where she intertwines the learnings of Western science and Indigenous teachings and knowledge. Kimmerer is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and is a speaker, professor, author, and scientist with a special interest in reciprocal relationships found in nature.
Deborah Cramer followed the migration path of the red knot sandpiper, a 19,000 mile journey. Cramer wrote the book The Narrow Edge: A Tiny Bird, an Ancient Crab, and an Epic Journey, a book following her journey and exploring the life of this bird and its connection to the human world.
Camille Dungy edited Black Nature, the first collection of nature poems written by Black poets. She’s also the author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, which underlines the importance of diversity in all aspects of our lives, whether in the plants in our gardens or the people in our communities.
Sophia Danenberg was the first Black woman to summit Mount Everest in 2006. She’s also tackled Mount Kilimanjaro, Rainier, Denali, and Aconcagua after diving into rock climbing in the late 1990s.
Need more book recommendations? Prepare those picnic baskets and grab one of the books listed in the resources below to enjoy our approaching spring:
- Check out this list of 12 powerful climate change books written by women
- Sierra Club’s “14 Fabulous Contemporary Lady Writers”
- Forbes’ The Best Energy and Climate Books by Women Authors in 2024″
Want to learn more about women that who have grown the conservation and environmental spaces? Check out the list below:
- Using Their Voices: Founding Women of National Parks (NPS)
- Meet 13 Women Making Waves in Conservation (WWF)
- Who is Conservation? (TNC)
Follow the work of these organizations and the folks listed above and learn more about Women’s History Month here!
Featured photo by Michael A. Estrada.