From BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY
Robin Wall Kimmerer, plant ecologist, educator, and writer, will be visiting Bowling Green State University on Friday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. at Kobacker Hall, Moore Musical Arts Center on the BGSU campus. She will also speak in the Veterans Memorial Building Atrium at City Park on Saturday, March 28, at 10 a.m., which will be hosted by the Wood County District Public Library. Both events are free and open to the public.
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 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 various 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 everyone. Kimmerer’s newest book, “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (November 2024),” is a vision for how to orient lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
As a writer and a scientist, Kimmerer’s interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of people’s relationship’s to land. She holds a B.S. in botany from SUNY ESF, an M.S. and Ph.D. in botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge, and restoration ecology, She lives on a farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.
In preparation for Kimmerer’s visit to BGSU and the Wood County community, the 2025-26 academic year of “In The Round” programming centers around Kimmerer’s book, “Braiding Sweetgrass.” Visit bgsu.edu/in-the-round for full event details and updates.
There will also be an exhibition opening Sunday, Nov. 2, from 2 – 4 p.m., at the Willard Wankelman Gallery, BGSU Fine Arts Center. Prior to the opening, at 12 p.m., Remington “Remey” Schneider will present his talk, “The Power of Reciprocity: How Building Relationships Creates Sustainable Solutions in Indian Country.”
Schneider works as a financial analyst at the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, where he works as a bridge between tribes and financial institutions to finance clean energy projects in Indian Country. He is originally from Cincinnati, and is an enrolled member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. Schneider graduated from BGSU with a B.A. in Environmental Policy & Analysis and International Studies. He recently graduated with a master’s of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment in New Haven, Connecticut. He’s passionate about Tribal clean energy development and helping Tribes pursue energy sovereignty.
The exhibition, titled “IN THE ROOTS: Ohio’s Native Plants,” is a collaborative informational exhibition produced by undergraduate and graduate students in Collaboration and Community Engagement taught by Jenn Stucker, professor, Division of Graphic Design and Museum Studies in Public History taught by Cheryl Dong, assistant professor, Department of History. The exhibition will run through Saturday, Nov. 15.
There will be a “Community Reads Gathering” at the Wood County Committee on Aging, 140 S. Grove St., Bowling Green, on Thursday, Nov. 20, from 6 – 7 p.m. “Epiphany in the Beans” from “Braiding Sweetgrass” will be introduced by Chad Van Buskirk, associate teaching professor, Department of English.
There will also be an outdoor gathering experience at the Bradner Preserve on Thursday, Dec. 18, from 6 – 7 p.m. Jim Witter, naturalist, Wood County Park District, will lead this guided evening owl hike.
To indicate if one needs special services, assistance, or appropriate modifications to fully participate in events due to disability, contact Accessibility Services at access@bgsu.edu or 419-372-8495. People are encouraged to contact the Accessibility Services prior to the event.
For questions about the “In The Round” series, or to get involved in events, contact the series creators, Heidi Nees or Jenn Stucker.
