April 2026
Poet and nature writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil joins The World We Want host Gerry Ellis to talk about curiosity, observation, poetry, and the quiet heart of environmental education. This conversation explores how noticing the natural world—naming birds, listening at night, and staying curious—can shape how we learn, teach, and care for the environment.
Get Aimee's new book of poems, Night Owl, and check out all her books!
What does it mean to really notice the world around us?
In this episode of The World We Want, host Gerry Ellis speaks with poet and nature writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil about curiosity, attention, and the role that observation plays in environmental education and our relationship with the natural world. Aimee’s work explores the connections between poetry, science, nature, and memory, and how naming plants, animals, and landscapes helps us build a deeper connection to the places where we live. Her latest book, Night Owl, looks at the natural world after dark and invites readers to slow down, listen, and rediscover a sense of wonder and curiosity about the living world around them. This conversation explores the quiet heart of environmental education—not just learning facts about the environment, but learning how to pay attention, how to ask questions, and how to remain curious about the world throughout our lives. We talk about nature writing, teaching, curiosity, naming species, childhood wonder, and how observation can lead to care, connection, and lifelong learning. This episode is about noticing, curiosity, poetry, and our shared relationship with the living world.
Resources for Educators
- Join the Connecting to Nature eePRO Group
- Read Night Owl by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
About the Guest Speaker: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the New York Times best-selling author of the poetry book, Night Owl (Ecco, 2026), and two illustrated collections of essays, Bite by Bite, and World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments, which was chosen as Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Year and named a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. She also wrote four previous award-winning poetry collections: Oceanic, Lucky Fish, At the Drive-In Volcano, and Miracle Fruit. With the poet Ross Gay, she co-authored the chapbook Lace & Pyrite, a collaboration of epistolary garden poems. Her writing appears twice in The New Yorker, The Nation, the Best American Poetry Series, The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, Poetry magazine, American Poetry Review, and The Paris Review.
Honors include a poetry fellowship from U.S. Artist Fellows, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pushcart Prize, a Mississippi Arts Council grant, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. For a decade, she served as the poetry editor for Orion and Sierra magazines. A professor of English and Creative Writing for over twenty five years, she also serves as a firefly guide for Mississippi State Parks.
Transcript coming soon
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Imagine a world where communities thrive, curiosity sparks change, and hope fuels action. Welcome to The World We Want, the NAAEE podcast that's bringing a better future to life, one inspiring story at a time. Join us as we chat with people across continents and cultures who care about education and the environment—the trailblazers, visionary leaders, and everyday heroes making a difference.
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