The Center for Humans and Nature is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, non-partisan organization with a mission to explore and promote human responsibilities in relation to nature. The organization is headquartered in

Libertyville, Illinois Libertyville is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and a northern suburb of Chicago. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2020 census population was 20,579. It is part of Libertyville Township, Lake ...

History

The organization was founded in 2003 by Strachan Donnelley, Ph.D. a philosopher and ethicist who began his career at the

Hastings Center The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute and think tank based in Garrison, New York. It was instrumental in establishing the field of bioethics and is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy i ...

. Donnelley founded the Center to explore the role of ethical thinking—based in an

environmental ethics In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...

—for informing individual and political decision-making.

About the Center for Humans and Nature

The Center provides in-depth and diverse perspectives about what it means to be human in an interconnected world. Contributors and Editorial Fellows for the Center’s publications and projects have included philosophers, biologists,

ecologists This is a list of notable ecologists. A-D * John Aber (USA) * Aziz Ab'Saber (Brazil) * Charles Christopher Adams (USA) * Warder Clyde Allee (USA) * Herbert G. Andrewartha (Australia) * Sarah Martha Baker ( UK) * Fakhri A. Bazzaz (USA) * Joh ...

, lawyers, political scientists, anthropologists, artists,

poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and economists.” The Center has co-hosted events with the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lincoln Park Zoo, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, School of the Art Institute of Chicago,

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, Western Colorado University,

Wisconsin Public Radio Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the ''Ideas Network'' and the ''NPR News & Music Network,'' as well as the ''All Classi ...

Point Reyes Books
an
New School at Commonweal
The Center has also partnered with the nationally syndicated public radio show

To the Best of Our Knowledge ''To the Best of Our Knowledge'' (also known by the acronym TTBOOK) is a weekly public-radio interview program produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and distributed by PRX. It is broadcast on 180+ public radio stations in the U.S. and is also availa ...

on a podcast series. Event and podcast participants have included

Robin Wall Kimmerer Robin Wall Kimmerer (born 1953) is an American Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology; and Director, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, at the State University of New York College of Environmental Scien ...

David Abram David Abram (born June 24, 1957) is an American ecologist and philosopher best known for his work bridging the philosophical tradition of phenomenology with environmental and ecological issues. He is the author of ''Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cos ...

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best know ...

Kathleen Dean Moore Kathleen Dean Moore (born 1947, Berea, Ohio) is a philosopher, writer, and environmental activist from Oregon State University. Her early creative nonfiction writing focused on the cultural and spiritual values of the natural world, especially sho ...

, Sharon Blackie, Enrique Salmon,

Suzanne Simard Suzanne Simard (born 1960)Cori Vanchierim'An ecologist’s new book gets at the root of trees’ social lives,' Science News 28 June 2021 is a Canadian scientist who is a professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the Univ ...

Gary Paul Nabhan Gary Paul Nabhan (born 1952) is an agricultural ecologist, Ethnobotanist, Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, and author whose work has focused primarily on the plants and cultures of the desert Southwestern United States, Southwest. He is considered ...

, and

Julian Agyeman Julian Agyeman is a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate, at Tufts University,. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of '' Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice a ...

Publications and Media

The Center for Humans and Nature publishes stories and ideas online and in print that explore our relationships and responsibilities to nature and provide in-depth and diverse perspectives related to arts, humanity, and nature.

Stories & Ideas

The Center for Humans and Nature's online digital publications are housed under Stories & Ideas. These “Stories & Ideas” are featured in a diversity of forms—essays, art, interviews, poems, reviews, and videos—with a variety of contributors sharing their diverse perspectives on themes such as: Animals & Plants, Care, Climate Change, Community, Cosmos, Culture, Healing, Justice, Land & Water, Language, Practice, Reciprocity, Sacred, Sovereignty, and Urban Nature. Contributors have included Rebecca Solnit,

adrienne maree brown Adrienne Maree Brown, often styled adrienne maree brown (born September 6, 1978), is a writer, activist and facilitator. From 2006 to 2010, she was the executive director of the Ruckus Society. She also co-founded and directed the United States ...

, Tommy Orange, Mary Midgley, David Sloan Wilson,

Benjamin Barber Benjamin R. Barber (August 2, 1939 – April 24, 2017) was an American political theorist and author, perhaps best known for his 1995 bestseller, ''Jihad vs. McWorld'', and for 2013's ''If Mayors Ruled the World''. His 1984 book of political t ...

, Robin Kimmerer,

, Maude Barlow,

Herman Daly Herman Edward Daly (July 21, 1938 – October 28, 2022) was an American ecological and Georgist economist and professor at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park in the United States, best known for his time as a s ...

Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...

, Sharon Olds, Nalini Nadkarni, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber,

Vandana Shiva Vandana Shiva (born 5 November 1952) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalisation author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred to as "Gandhi ...

, and James Gustave Speth, among others.

''Minding Nature''

The Center publishes ''Minding Nature'', formerly a tri-annual journal (2008–2021), and currently an annual journal that “explores ecological responsibilities, values, and practices.”

Center for Humans and Nature Press

The Center for Humans and Nature Press is the Center's independent publishing wing—exploring themes of human interconnection with nature and human responsibilities to the whole community of life. The Center for Humans and Nature Press print publications include the five-volume book series, ''Kinship: Belonging in a World Relations''. Edited by Gavin Van Horn,

, and John Hausdoerffer, ''Kinship'' is a five-book anthology that explores humanity's deep interconnections with the living world. The five Kinship volumes—Planet, Place, Partners, Persons, Practice—offer essays, interviews, poetry, and stories that highlight the interdependence that exists between humans and nonhuman beings. The Kinship book series is part of a larger project that also includes the Making Kin online art exhibition and the Kinship with the More-Than–Human World podcast in partnership with To the Best of Our Knowledge.

References

External links

* https://www.humansandnature.org/ {{Authority control Environmental organizations based in Chicago