Janine Benyus
Biomimicry Institute – Montana, USA
Janine Benyus is a biologist, a self-proclaimed “Nature Nerd”, an innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. An educator at heart, Janine believes that the more people learn from nature’s mentors, the more they’ll want to protect them. This is why she writes, speaks, and revels in describing the wild teachers in our midst.
Janine has cultivated a deep knowledge of the natural world, beginning with direct observation in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, continuing in habitats from Maine to West Virginia where she worked as a backcountry guide, and now, in her home wilds of Montana.
“We’re awake now, and the question is how do we stay awake to the living world? How do we make the act of asking nature’s advice a normal part of everyday inventing?”
In 2006, Janine co-founded The Biomimicry Institute, a non-profit that empowers people to create nature-inspired solutions for a healthy planet. The Biomimicry Institute runs annual Design Challenges, a Global Network of over 9500 members, and AskNature.org, the award-winning bio inspiration site for inventors.
In Biomimicry, she named an emerging discipline that emulates nature’s designs and processes (e.g., solar cells that mimic leaves) to create a healthier, more sustainable planet. Since the book’s 1997 release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, consulting with businesses about what we can learn from the genius that surrounds us. Her favorite role is Biologist at-the-Design-Table, introducing innovators to 3.8 billion years of brilliant, time-tested solutions. In 1998, Janine co-founded Biomimicry 3.8, the world’s leading nature-inspired innovation and training firm, bringing nature’s sustainable designs to 250+ clients.
“There are three types of biomimicry – one is copying form and shape, another is copying a process, like photosynthesis in a leaf, and the third is mimicking at an ecosystem’s level, like building a nature-inspired city.”
Over the past 18 years, Janine has personally introduced millions to the meme of biomimicry through three TED talks, hundreds of conference keynotes, and a dozen documentaries such as 11th Hour, Harmony, and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, which aired in 71 countries. She has received several awards including the 2015 Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award, the 2013 Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development, the 2011 Heinz Award, Time Magazine’s Hero for the Planet Award in 2008, United Nations Environment Programme’s Champion of the Earth for Science and Technology in 2009, the Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award, the Lud Browman
Award for Science Writing in Society, and the Barrows and Heinz Distinguished Lectureships. Her work in biomimicry has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Newsweek, Esquire, The Economist, Time, Wired, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Nature, and more. In 2010, BusinessWeek named Janine one of the World’s Most Influential Designers. In 2012, she received the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Mind Award, for visionary work with a “paradigm-shifting effect on the world of design.”
“Life creates conditions conducive to life.”
Publications: Biomimicry : Innovation Inspired by Nature; Beastly Behaviors: A Zoo Lover’s Companion; Northwoods Wildlife: A Watcher’s Guide to Habitats; The Secret Language & Remarkable Behavior of Animals; The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States; Wildlife in the upper Great Lakes Region a Community Profile; Christmas Tree Pest Manual
Website 1) Janine Benyus
Website 2) Biomimicry
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-benyus-a5626/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/JanineBenyus
Video 1) TED Talk
Video 2) TreeTV / N2K Need to Know
