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Elizabeth Kolbert

エリザベス・コルバート

Erizabesu Korubāto

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1961-07-06 （Bronx, New York, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Williamstown, Massachusetts, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Journalist, Author
Active Years
1983-
Affiliations
The New Yorker (staff writer), American Academy of Arts and Letters (member)
Memberships
The New Yorker (staff), American Academy of Arts and Letters (member), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Science and Security Board (2017–2020)

Education

Yale University
Literature
Degree: B.A.
Period: 1979–1983
Year of Graduation: 1983
Country: United States
University of Hamburg
Period: 1983–1984
Country: Germany
Studied on a Fulbright Scholarship

Awards

National Magazine Award (Public Interest)
2006
Category: Public Interest
Organization: American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)
Result: 受賞
National Magazine Award (Commentary)
2010
Category: Commentary
Organization: American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)
Result: 受賞
Heinz Award (focus on global change)
2010
Organization: The Heinz Awards
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship (Science Writing)
2010
Category: Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction)
2015
Work: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Category: General Nonfiction
Organization: The Pulitzer Prizes
Result: 受賞
National Academies Communication Award
2006
Organization: National Academies
Result: 受賞
Lannan Literary Fellowship
2006
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
AAAS Science Journalism Award
2005
Organization: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Result: 受賞
Sam Rose '58 and Julie Walters Prize (Environmental Activism)
2016
Organization: Dickinson College
Result: 受賞
SEAL Environmental Journalism Award
2017
Organization: SEAL Awards
Result: 受賞
Blake-Dodd Prize (American Academy of Arts and Letters)
2017
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
BBVA Foundation’s Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication
2022
Organization: BBVA Foundation (Biophilia Award)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Prophet of Love: And Other Tales of Power and Deceit

2004 Non-fiction (essays/reportage)

A collection of pieces on New York politics and public figures, many originally published in The New Yorker.

PoliticsPower and deceit

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change

2006 Non-fiction (environmental journalism)

A reportage based on field reporting about how climate change affects environments worldwide, presenting scientific findings for general readers.

Climate changeEnvironmental impacts

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

2014 Non-fiction (natural history/environment)

Explores human-driven species extinctions, comparing past mass extinctions to the present accelerated losses; written for a general audience. Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

Mass extinctionLoss of biodiversityHuman impacts

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

2021 Non-fiction (environmental journalism)

Reports on various technological attempts by humans to control nature, examining their paradoxes and consequences; includes discussion of geoengineering.

Technology vs. natureGeoengineeringEnvironmental policy

H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z

2024 Children's non-fiction (climate change)

An alphabet-format collection of short essays explaining the history, present, and uncertain future of climate change. Illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook.

Climate changeEducationFuture-oriented

Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World

2025 Non-fiction (essays)

A collection of essays and reports on various environmental issues, from rights of nature to the insect decline.

Ecosystem changeRights of natureInsect decline

Bibliography

  • The Prophet of Love: And Other Tales of Power and Deceit (2004)
  • Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change (2006)
  • The Ends of the Earth: An Anthology of the Finest Writing on the Arctic and the Antarctic (ed., 2007)
  • The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009 (ed., 2009)
  • The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (2014)
  • Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future (2021)
  • H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z (2024)
  • Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World (2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Expository style that renders scientific facts into accessible proseReportage grounded in on-site reporting
Recurring Motifs
Human-driven environmental degradationInteraction of science and policySpecies loss and biodiversity crisis

Legacy

Kolbert is widely recognized for making environmental science accessible to general audiences; works like The Sixth Extinction have had significant impact. She is considered a leading voice in environmental journalism and communication.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Quotes

  • The spiralling absurdity of human attempts to control nature with technology.
    Source: Under a White Sky (2021)

Trivia

  • Born in the Bronx and raised partly in Larchmont.
  • Staff writer at The New Yorker since 1999.
  • Resides in Williamstown with husband John Kleiner and three sons (Ned, Matthew, Aaron).
  • Studied at the University of Hamburg on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1983.