Debbie S. Miller

Debbie Miller is an author, journalist, teacher, Arctic explorer and conservationist. Her book, Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, describes the natural and political history of America's wildest refuge. Miller has hiked well over 1,000 miles through this great wilderness, and her book offers an in-depth account based on these explorations. President Jimmy Carter, who visited Miller in the Arctic Refuge, wrote that Midnight Wilderness captures the "beauty, vastness, and wildlife heritage, but more importantly, it addresses the significance of protecting this national treasure for future generations."

Miller moved to Alaska in 1975, and she lived and taught in Arctic Village, an Athabaskan Gwich'in Indian village located on the southern boundary of the Refuge. One of the most isolated Indian tribes in America, the Athabaskan Gwich'in Indians have maintained their culture, language and subsistence traditions. While she learned about this extraordinary people intimately connected to the wilderness and wildlife of Alaska, she also had the opportunity to explore and write about one of the greatest wilderness areas remaining on Earth.

Miller was honored with the Refuge Hero Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for her nature writing and for her education and conservation efforts. She has worked to protect the Arctic Refuge for two decades, and is a founding board member of the Alaska Wilderness League. She has traveled to Washington three times to testify before Congress about the wonders and extraordinary value of the Arctic Refuge, and about why it is a place worth saving for the world.

In addition to her writing for adults, she is also the author of several award-winning nature books for children, illustrated by wildlife artists Jon and Daniel Van Zyle. Her books - A Caribou Journey, Flight of the Golden Plover, River of Life, Are Trees Alive?, The Great Serum Race,A Woolly Mammoth Journey, Disappearing Lake, A Polar Bear Journey, and Big Alaska - have won awards from the National Science Teachers Association, the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association. Her book Arctic Lights, Arctic Nightsreceived the 2003 John Burroughs Nature Book for Young Readers Award.

Miller has been a featured speaker about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at numerous venues, including the California Academy of Sciences, the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, and at Chicago's world-renowned Field Museum of Natural History. She has also been a featured speaker at a variety of educational conferences, such as the International Reading Association and the Ohio State Literature Conference.