David G. Haskell

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David George Haskell
David George Haskell.jpg
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Biologist; writer
Notable work The Forest Unseen

David George Haskell is a British and American biologist and writer. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist in General Nonfiction. In addition to scientific papers, he has written essays, poems, op-eds, [1] and the books The Forest Unseen (Viking Press, Penguin Random House 2012), The Songs of Trees (Viking Press, Penguin Random House 2017), Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree (Hachette 2021), and Sounds Wild and Broken (Viking Press, Penguin Random House 2022). In 2026, Viking Press will publish How Flowers Made our World.

Contents

Education and Academic Appointments

Haskell received his B.A. in zoology from the University of Oxford and his Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Cornell University. [2] In 2025, he was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Emory University. He was professor at The University of the South from 1995 to 2025, serving as Chair of Biology (2004-2009) and Director of Environmental Arts and Humanities (2024-5), and was named William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies in 2021. In 2020-1, he was Professor Adjunct in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at The University of Colorado, Boulder.

Work

The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature was winner of the 2013 National Academies Communication Award for Best Book, [3] finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, [4] runner-up for the 2013 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, [5] winner of the 2012 National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature, and the 2013 Reed Environmental Writing Award. [6] Biologist E. O. Wilson wrote that the book was "…a new genre of nature writing, located between science and poetry". [7] Outside Magazine listed the book among those that "shaped the decade", stating that it "injects much-needed vibrancy into the stuffy world of nature writing". [8] The Forest Unseen has been translated into twelve languages and was winner, in translation, of the 2016 Dapeng Nature Book Award in China.

The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature's Great Connectors, was published in April 2017 by Viking. It won the 2018 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Natural History Writing [9] and the Iris Books Award. [10] Jurors for the Iris Award called The Songs of Trees "a compelling example of poetic science" that "beautifully illustrates the interconnections … of particular trees around the world, weaving together scientific knowledge about them and their relationships to the rest of the natural world including humans." [11] Public Radio International's Science Friday named The Songs of Trees of the Best Science Books of 2017, [12] Maria Popova included the book in Brain Pickings Favorite Science Books of 2017, writing that Haskell is "the rare kind of scientist Rachel Carson was when long ago she pioneered a new cultural aesthetic of poetic prose about science", [13] and Forbes.com named the book one of 10 Best Environment, Climate Science and Conservation Books of 2017. [14] The Songs of Trees has been translated into fourteen languages.

Sounds Wild and Broken (Viking, 2022) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. [15] It was also a Finalist for the 2023 PEN/ E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and an Editor's Choice and a Recommended Paperback in the New York Times book review. [16] [17] Cynthia Barnett reviewing in The New York Times , wrote of the book that it "affirms Haskell as a laureate for the earth". [18] The Acoustical Society of America awarded the book its 2021-2 Science Communication Award, Long Form Print. [19]

Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree was described by Sir Peter Crane, FRS, as "'eclectic, brilliant and beautifully written" and by Kate Humble in The Radio Times Best Books of 2021 as "My favourite book of the year".

Journalist Paul Kvinta's profile of Haskell [20] in Outside Magazine was included in the 2018 anthology Best American Science and Nature Writing, edited by Sam Kean.

Awards and honors

In 2009 he was named the Carnegie-CASE Professor of the Year in Tennessee. [21] He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2014. [22]

In 2022, Haskell was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He is also a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies and elected member of the American Ornithological Society.

In 2024, the American Academy of Arts and Letters granted him an Award in Literature. The citation states that he "brings to his work a wealth of knowledge and an insatiable curiosity...he expands the possibilities of language".

Awards for Writing:

Support of conservation and environmental justice organizations

In the Acknowledgments section of The Forest Unseen, Haskell writes that "I will donate at least half my author's proceeds to projects that benefit forest conservation". In the same section of Sounds Wild and Broken, he states "In these pages, I make the case that the acoustic crisis has four main pressing and intersecting dimensions...loss of ecological habitat and attacks on human rights..the nightmare of industrial sound in the oceans...the inequities of noise pollution in cities...failures to listen to and celebrate the storied sensory richness of our world. I will donate at lest half of my net proceeds from this book to organizations that work to heal and reverse these aggressions, fragmentations, and loses." He donated to education and conservation groups all of his proceeds from the sale of the best-selling Eastern Forest Playing Cards with the Art of Play. [23]

Haskell served on advisory boards for the Open Space Institute and as board member and leader of the Shakerag Hollow Conservation Initiative for the South Cumberland Regional Land Trust. He serves on the advisory board of Advisory Board, MAX (Media Art Exploration). [24]

Bibliography

Books

Essays and Op-eds

Multimedia

Field recording albums

Translations of books

Sounds Wild and Broken.

Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree.

The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors.

The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature.

References

  1. ↑ Haskell, David George (March 29, 2013). "Nature's Case for Same-Sex Marriage". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "Academics • Biology • Faculty & Staff: David George Haskell". The University of the South. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Academies Announce 2013 Communication Award Winners". The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. September 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ "2013 Pulitzer Prizes". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ "2013 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award". PEN America. 25 July 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Reed Environmental Writing Award". Southern Environmental Law Center. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  8. ↑ "The Outdoor Books that Shaped the Last Decade". Outside Online. 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  9. ↑ "DAVID HASKELL WINS 2018 BURROUGHS MEDAL". John Burroughs Association. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ Bloomington, Inside IU (2020-01-27). "Around IU Bloomington". News at IU. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  11. ↑ "Iris Book Award: Religion, Science, and Technology: Projects: Center for Religion & the HumanA research center of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Indiana University Bloomington: Indiana University". Center for Religion & the HumanA research center of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  12. ↑ "The Best Science Books Of 2017". Science Friday, PRI. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ "7 Favorite Science Books of 2017". Brain Pickings. 13 December 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ "The 10 Best Environment, Climate Science and Conservation Books of 2017". forbes.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  15. ↑ Khatib, Joumana; Alter, Alexandra; Harris, Elizabeth A. (May 8, 2023). "Pulitzer Prizes 2023: A Guide to the Winning Books and Finalists". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  16. ↑ "10 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. 2022-03-31. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  17. ↑ Salazar, Miguel (2023-04-14). "6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  18. ↑ Barnett, Cynthia (2022-03-05). "Crescendos of Crickets and Choruses of Frogs". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  19. ↑ "Science Writing Awards 2021-2022". 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  20. ↑ "David Haskell Speaks for the Trees". Outside Online. 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  21. ↑ "David Haskell named Tennessee's top professor". Sewanee Today. Sewanee: The University of the South. November 18, 2009.
  22. ↑ "David Haskell". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Eastern Forest Playing Cards". Art of Play. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  24. ↑ "Media Art Xploration". 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  25. ↑ "The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  26. ↑ "The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature's Great Connectors by David George Haskell". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  27. ↑ Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree. 2021-05-14. ISBN   978-1-85675-488-0.
  28. ↑ "Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution's Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction by David George Haskell". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  29. ↑ Haskell, David George (2023-07-22). "Opinion | The Birds Are Singing, but Not for Me". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  30. ↑ Haskell, David G. (2022). "The sonic wonders of our world are under threat. We need to listen". New Scientist.
  31. ↑ "Wild Sounds: The Loss of Sonic Diversity and Why It Matters". Yale E360. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  32. ↑ "Orion Magazine - Music, Forest, Body". Orion Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  33. ↑ Haskell, David George. "Humans Evolved to Play Music". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  34. ↑ Haskell, David George (2021-10-22). "The scent of trees: how to understand their language". Financial Times. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  35. ↑ "Eleven Ways of Smelling a Tree". Emergence Magazine. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  36. ↑ "The Voices of Birds and the Language of Belonging". Emergence Magazine. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  37. ↑ "Forest 404 - T9: Love Letter to the Forest... - BBC Sounds". Forest 404 (Podcast). Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  38. ↑ Haskell, David George (2018-12-01). "The Most Wonderful Smelling Time of the Year" . Opinion. The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  39. ↑ Haskell, David George (2018-06-27). "Central Park, Now More Delicious" . Opinion. The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  40. ↑ Haskell, David George (2017-03-17). "The Seasons Aren't What They Used to Be" . Opinion. The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  41. ↑ "We Cannot Hope to Save Forests if We Don't Listen to Them". Undark Magazine. 2017-05-07. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  42. ↑ Haskell, David George (2013-03-29). "Nature's Case for Same-Sex Marriage" . Opinion. The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  43. ↑ "When the Earth Started to Sing — David G. Haskell". Emergence Magazine. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  44. ↑ "The Voices of Birds and the Language of Belonging". Emergence Magazine. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  45. ↑ "The Atomic Tree". The Atomic Tree. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  46. ↑ Trees I. White Oak, American Beech., 2024-01-24, retrieved 2024-02-27
  47. ↑ Concurrent Dyscurrent, 2019-09-16, retrieved 2024-02-27
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