Jennifer Ackerman has been writing about science, nature, and health for more than 30 years. Her 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. She has won numerous awards and fellowships, including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, a Silver Medal Award for Nature Writing from the International Regional Magazine Association, and fellowships at the Brown College at the University of Virginia, and the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. Her previous books include Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold (2010), which was named a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award, and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body (2007), which was selected as a New York Times “Editor’s Choice” and was chosen as a main selection for the Scientific American Book Club. Ackerman's most recent book, The Genius of Birds, is a New York Times bestseller and has been published in 20 languages.
Photo credit: Robert Llewellyn