Lecture: Jennifer Ackerman, Author of Genius of Birds

CONSERVATION LECTURE SERIES PRESENTS

JENNIFER ACKERMAN, AUTHOR OF THE GENIUS OF BIRDS

Jennifer Ackerman has been writing about science and nature for 30 years.  Her most recent book, The Genius of Birds (Penguin Press, April 2016), explores the intelligence of birds, their playfulness, and problem-solving skills. According to Ackerman ”There’s the mammal way. And there is the bird way.” Scientific American called the book “a lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence.”

Her previous books include Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold (Twelve Press, 2010), Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream:  A Day in the Life of Your Body (Houghton Mifflin, 2007), Chance in the House of Fate:  A Natural History of Heredity (Houghton Mifflin 2001), and Notes from the Shore (Viking Penguin, 1995). 

 A contributor to Scientific American, National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, and many other publications, Jennifer is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including an NEA Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction, a Bunting Institute Fellowship, and a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  Her articles and essays have been included in several anthologies, among them, Best American Science Writing, The Nature Reader, Best Nature Writing, Flights of Imagination: Extraordinary Writings About Birds, and The Penguin Book of the Ocean.  Jennifer’s work aims to explain and interpret science for a lay audience and to explore the riddle of humanity’s place in the natural world, blending scientific knowledge with imaginative vision. 

Copies of her book will be available for sale with part of the price of each book going to The Friends of NCTC to support future lectures and other projects.