Janine Benyus

Education

Benyus graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with degrees in natural resource management and english literature/writing.

Career

Benyus teaches interpretive writing, lectures at the University of Montana, and works towards restoring and protecting wild lands. She serves on a number of land use committees in her rural county, and is president of Living Education, a nonprofit dedicated to place-based living and learning. Benyus has authored six books on biomimicry, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.

In this book she develops the basic thesis that human beings should consciously emulate nature"s genius in their designs.

In 1998, Benyus co-founded the Biomimicry Guild, the Innovation Consultancy, which helps innovators learn from and emulate natural models in order to design sustainable products, processes, and policies that create conditions conducive to life. She is also President of The Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission is to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design.

Achievements

• Women of Discovery Award (2006), Workplace Integration Nurturing Good Students WorldQuest Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award Lud Browman Award for Science Writing Science Writing in Society Journalism Award Barrows and Heinz Distinguished Lectureships Design Futures Council Senior Fellow 2012 Heinz Award.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States by Janine M. Benyus (1989-06-15)
  • The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States by Janine M. Benyus (1989-06-15)