Tom Fleischner

Background

About Tom Fleischner

My work is always rooted in natural history, ecology, and conservation biology, but plies the terrain at the margins of disciplines. I'm most interested in the connections between sciences, humanities, and public policy, and between analytical and creative modes of thought. I was the founding Executive Director of the Natural History Institute ("Integrating Art, Science, and Humanities"), which began as a program at Prescott College, where I taught interdisciplinary Environmental Studies for 29 years, but is now an independent nonprofit, which I now serve as Senior Advisor & Director Emeritus. I was also co-founder of the North Cascades Institute. I've written two books-Singing Stone: A Natural History of the Escalante Canyons, and Desert Wetlands-and edited two more, The Way of Natural History, and Nature, Love, Medicine: Essays On Wildness and Wellness, as well as numerous articles. I served on the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology, and on its Education Committee, as well as on the boards and advisory groups of several other organizations. I'm the Past Chair of the Natural History Section of the Ecological Society of America. Along with many others I'm trying to spark a revitalization of natural history-"the practice of intentional, focused attentiveness to the more-than-human world, guided by honesty and accuracy."[see my website, tfleischner.net, for more details]