Ann Vileisis

Ann Vileisis is the award-winning author of three books that explore culture and nature through history, offering insight to current issues and hope for the future.

As an independent scholar, Ann has pursued path-breaking topics in environmental history. Intrigued by stories of food and ecology —and especially interconnections between the two, she is particularly drawn to history that illuminates issues we face today.

Ann first became interested in history and environmental issues as an undergraduate at Yale where she earned her B.A. After completing an M.A. at Utah State University, she decided against an academic career and set to work as an independent scholar and writer, along with her husband, author and photographer, Tim Palmer.

Ann's first book, Discovering the Unknown Landscape: A History of America's Wetlands, received prestigious honors from two national history organizations. The American Historical Association—the nation's largest and oldest group of professional historians—recognized Ann with its Herbert Feis Award for the best book by an independent or public historian. The American Society of Environmental History awarded the book its George Perkins Marsh Prize for the best environmental history book of 1997. Discovering the Unknown Landscape was reviewed widely in journals, newspapers, and magazines, including Sierra and Smithsonian.

While researching her second book, Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food comes from and why we need to get it back , Ann was a short-term fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and a writer-in-residence at Mesa Refuge in Point Reyes, California. Kitchen Literacy was a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award and was recognized as one of "50 books that will change your life," by Real Simple Magazine. With Kitchen Literacy, Ann was a guest on radio shows, including NPR's West Coast Live, Martha Stewart Living Radio, Thom Hartmann, Dining Around with Gene Burns, Food & Wine Talk, and A Chef's Table, as well as many podcasts.

Ann's latest book Abalone: the remarkable history and uncertaiin future of California's iconic shellfish, explores the intimate connections between food and nature on California's coast. It was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. "Through my research on wetlands and food history, I already knew that shellfish had played a significant role in culture, cuisine, and ecology in the past," she said. "When I found a stunning abalone shell on a Big Sur beach, it led me to discover a rich and remarkable history that spans more than 13,000 years. I unearthed colorful, joyful, and painful stories that speak directly to hard questions we face in this age of extinctions — how we can let animals we cherish become so imperiled? And how can we bring them back?"

Ann lives with her husband Tim in a small town on the Pacific coast. Her other interests include whitewater boating, hiking, botanizing, beach-combing, gardening, and birding. She also works as an activist focused on conservation of wild rivers, salmon, and birds.