Poet, essayist, and naturalist, Diane Ackerman is the author of two dozen highly acclaimed works of nonfiction and poetry, including The Zookeeper's Wife and A Natural History of the Senses ― books beloved by millions of readers all over the world. Ms. Ackerman has received a PEN Henry David Thoreau Prize for Nature Writing, an honorary doctorate from Kenyon College, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Orion Book Award, John Burroughs Nature Award, and a Lavan Poetry Prize, as well as being honored as a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library. She has taught at a number of universities, including Columbia and Cornell. Her essays about nature and human nature have been appearing for decades in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Parade, New Yorker, National Geographic and many other journals.

Photo by Sue Michlovitz