| Elizabeth Kolbert | |
|---|---|
 Kolbert in 2014 | |
| Born | (1961-07-06) July 6, 1961 (age 63) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist and author |
| Awards |
|
Elizabeth Kolbert (born July 6, 1961) is an American journalist, author, and visiting fellow at Williams College.
She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, and as an observer and commentator on the environment for The New Yorker magazine.
The Sixth Extinction was a New York Times bestseller and won the Los Angeles Times' book prize for science and technology. Her book Under a White Sky was one of The Washington Post's ten best books of 2021. Kolbert is a two-time National Magazine Award winner, and in 2022 was awarded the BBVA Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication.
Her work has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing and The Best American Essays.
Kolbert served as a member of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board from 2017 to 2020.
Early life
Kolbert spent her early childhood in the Bronx; her family then relocated to Larchmont, where she remained until 1979.
After graduating from Mamaroneck High School, Kolbert spent four years studying literature at Yale University. In 1983, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Universität Hamburg, in Germany. Her brother, Dan Kolbert of Portland, Maine, is a well-known builder and author.
Career
Elizabeth Kolbert started working for The New York Times as a stringer in Germany in 1983. In 1985, she went to work for the Metro desk. Kolbert served as the Times' Albany bureau chief from 1988 to 1991 and wrote the Metro Matters column from 1997 to 1998.
Since 1999, she has been a staff writer for The New Yorker.
She was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for The Sixth Extinction in 2015.
Personal life
Kolbert resides in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband, John Kleiner, and three sons (Ned, Matthew, and Aaron).
Recognition
- 2005 American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Award
- 2006 National Magazine Award for Public Interest
- 2006 Lannan Literary Fellowship
- 2006 National Academies Communication Award
- 16th Annual Heinz Award with special focus on global change, 2010
- 2010 National Magazine Award for Commentary
- 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Science Writing
- 2015 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
- 2016 Sam Rose '58 and Julie Walters Prize at Dickinson College for Environmental Activism
- 2017 SEAL Environmental Journalism Award
- Blake-Dodd Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2017.
Bibliography
- Kolbert, Elizabeth (2004). The prophet of love : and other tales of power and deceit. New York: Bloomsbury.
- — (2006). Field notes from a catastrophe : man, nature, and climate change. New York: Bloomsbury.
- Kolbert, Elizabeth & Francis Spufford, eds. (2007). The ends of the Earth : an anthology of the finest writing on the Arctic and the Antarctic. 1st U.S. ed. New York: Bloomsbury.
- Kolbert, Elizabeth, ed. (2009). The best American science and nature writing 2009. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- — (2014). The sixth extinction : an unnatural history.
- — (2021). Under a white sky. Penguin Random House.
Introductions
- Van Gelder, Gordon, ed. (2011). Welcome to the greenhouse: new science fiction on climate change. Preface by Elizabeth Kolbert. New York: OR Books.
References
- "2015 Pulitzer Prizes". The Pulitzer Prizes.
- ^ "Contributors: Elizabeth Kolbert". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
- "Science and Security Board". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. March 30, 2017.
- "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert (Henry Holt)". The Pulitzer Prizes. 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- "Elizabeth Kolbert". Simon & Schuster. November 14, 2012. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- "AAAS Science Journalism Award Recipients". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- "National Magazine Awards 2006 Winners Announced at 40th Anniversary Celebration". magazine.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- "Elizabeth Kolbert". lannan.org.
- "National Academies Keck Futures Initiative – -". keckfutures.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- "The Heinz Awards: Elizabeth Kolbert". The Heinz Awards. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- "ASME Announces the Winners of the 2010 National Magazine Awards". magazine.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- "Elizabeth Kolbert – John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
- "The Pulitzer Prizes – Citation". The Pulitzer Prizes.
- Getty, Matt. "The Sam Rose '58 and Julie Walters Prize at Dickinson College for Global Environmental Activism". Dickinson College.
- "2017 SEAL Environmental Journalism Award Winners – SEAL Awards". SEAL Awards. September 26, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- "Search Results for "kolbert" – American Academy of Arts and Letters". American Academy of Arts and Letters. n.d. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
External links
Media related to Elizabeth Kolbert at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- "An Interview with Elizabeth Kolbert", Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) 2006
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Twitter page
- New Yorker articles
- "Focus 580; The Climate of Man," 2005-05-27, WILL Illinois Public Media, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed June 7, 2021.
| Elizabeth Kolbert | |
|---|---|
| Works |
|
- American non-fiction environmental writers
- American environmentalists
- American women environmentalists
- 1961 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American women journalists
- American women non-fiction writers
- Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winners
- The New Yorker staff writers
- Journalists from New York City
- Writers from the Bronx
- Yale University alumni
- University of Hamburg alumni
- People from Larchmont, New York
- Jewish American journalists
- 20th-century American journalists
- 21st-century American journalists
- 21st-century American women journalists
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- People from Williamstown, Massachusetts
- Mamaroneck High School alumni
- 21st-century American Jews
- Environmental journalists