SUNY-ESF environmental biology professor and 2022 MacArthur Fellow Robin Wall Kimmerer was recently awarded a 2023 National Humanities Medal from the White House.
Kimmerer, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Gathering Moss, and the upcoming book The Serviceberry, has explored the intersection between traditional ecological knowledge, Western scientific tradition and the lessons plants can tell us.
The National Humanities Medal honors people whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of humanities and broadened citizen engagement with history, literature and philosophy among other topics.
President Joe Biden honored this year’s recipients at the White House.
“You have broken barriers," Biden said. "You’ve blazed new trails. You redefined culture. You are the truth-tellers, the bridge-builders, the change-seekers. And above all, you’re the masters of your craft who have made us a better America with all you’ve done.”
“You also help us find meaning and purpose in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary, providing hope, wisdom, and laughter when we need it and we need a way forward, and transporting us through the past and the future to help us make sense of the present, because that’s what it does: make sense of the present," the president continued. "With absolute courage, you combat racial stereotypes, confront ghosts of history, and speak truth to power.”
Other recipients of this year’s award include LeVar Burton, Aaron Sorkin and the late Anthony Bourdain.
