Janine Benyus

With the publication of her 1997 bestseller, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired By Nature, Janine Benyus took the lead in popularizing the perspective-shifting notion of learning from nature instead of simply using it. Along with her book, her TED Talks have reached millions. She has received several awards including The Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development 2013, The Heinz Award 2011, TIME magazine’s Hero of the Environment award 2008, and the Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award. In 2022, Janine was awarded the annual RSA Bicentenary Medal for her remarkable contribution to regenerative design, which moves beyond only seeking sustainability to designing structures and devices that make an actual positive impact on the environment. At her website, Benyus poses this simple question: “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?”