John Burroughs Medal Explained

The John Burroughs Medal,^[1] named for nature writer John Burroughs (1837–1921), is awarded each year in April by the John Burroughs Association^[2] to the author of a book that the association has judged to be distinguished in the field of natural history. Only twice has the award been given to a work of fiction.

List of recipients of the John Burroughs Medal

• 1926 - William Beebe, Pheasants of the World
• 1927 - Ernest Thompson Seton, Lives of Game Animals
• 1928 - John Russell McCarthy, Nature Poems
• 1929 - Frank M. Chapman, Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America (published 1906)
• 1930 - Archibald Rutledge, Peace in the Heart
• 1931 - no award
• 1932 - Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, A Canyon Voyage: A Narrative of the Second Powell Expedition,
• 1933 - Oliver P. Medsker, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter (set)
• 1934 - W.W. Christman, Wild Pasture Pine
• 1935 - no award
• 1936 - Charles Crawford Gorst, Recordings of Bird Calls
• 1937 - no award
• 1938 - Robert Cushman Murphy, Oceanic Birds of South America
• 1939 - T. Gilbert Pearson, Adventures in Bird Protection
• 1940 - Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Birds (18 title series, United States Government Printing Office)
• 1941 - Louis J. Halle, Jr., Birds Against Men
• 1942 - Edward A. Armstrong, Birds of the Grey Wind
• 1943 - Edwin Way Teale, Near Horizons: The Story of an Insect Garden
• 1944 - no award
• 1945 - Rutherford Platt, This Green World
• 1946 - Florence Page Jaques and Francis Lee Jaques (illustrator), Snowshoe Country,
• 1947 - no award
• 1948 - Theodora Stanwell-Fletcher, Driftwood Valley,
• 1949 - Helen G. Cruickshank, Flight Into Sunshine: Bird Experiences in Florida
• 1950 - Roger Tory Peterson, Birds Over America,
• 1951 - no award
• 1952 - Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us,
• 1953 - Gilbert Klingel, The Bay,
• 1954 - Joseph Wood Krutch, The Desert Year,
• 1955 - Wallace Byron Grange and Olaus J. Murie (illustrator), Those of the Forest,
• 1956 - Guy Murchie, Song of the Sky
• 1957 - Archie Fairly Carr, The Windward Road: Adventures of a Naturalist on Remote Caribbean Shores,
• 1958 - Robert Porter Allen, On the Trail of the Vanishing Birds
• 1959 - no award
• 1960 - John Kieran, A Natural History of New York City,
• 1961 - Loren Eiseley, The Firmament of Time,
• 1962 - George Miksch Sutton, Iceland Summer: Adventures of a Bird Painter,
• 1963 - Adolph Murie, A Naturalist in Alaska,
• 1964 - John Hay, The Great Beach: A Naturalist Explores the Frontier Between Land and Sea on the Outer Reaches of Cape Cod,
• 1965 - Paul Brooks, Roadless Area,
• 1966 - Louis Darling, The Gull's Way,
• 1967 - Charlton Ogburn, Jr., The Winter Beach,
• 1968 - Hal Borland, Hill Country Harvest
• 1969 - Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, The Lovely and the Wild,
• 1970 - Victor B. Scheffer, The Year of the Whale
• 1971 - John K. Terres, From Laurel Hill to Siler's Bog,
• 1972 - Robert S. Arbib, The Lord's Woods: The Passing of an American Woodland,
• 1973 - Elizabeth Barlow, The Forests and Wetlands of New York City
• 1974 - Sigurd F. Olson, Wilderness Days,
• 1975 - no award
• 1976 - Ann Haymond Zwinger, Run, River, Run,
• 1977 - Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac,
• 1978 - Ruth Kirk, The American Southwest Desert,
• 1979 - Barry Lopez, Of Wolves and Men,
• 1980 - no award
• 1981 - Mary Durant and Michael Harwood, On the Road with John James Audubon,
• 1982 - Peter Matthiessen, Sand Rivers,
• 1983 - Alexander F. Skutch, A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm,
• 1984 - David Rains Wallace, The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution,
• 1985 - Mark Owens and Delia Owens, Cry of the Kalahari,
• 1986 - Gary Paul Nabhan, Gathering the Desert,
• 1987 - Robert Michael Pyle, Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land,
• 1988 - Tom Horton and Charles R. Hazard (illustrator), Bay Country,
• 1989 - Lawrence Kilham, On Watching Birds,
• 1990 - John McPhee, The Control of Nature,
• 1991 - Richard Nelson, The Island Within,
• 1992 - Kenneth S. Norris, Dolphin Days: The Life and Times of the Spinner Dolphin,
• 1993 - Vincent Dethier, Crickets and Katydids, Concerts and Solos,
• 1994 - David G. Campbell, The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica,
• 1995 - Craig Packer, Into Africa,
• 1996 - Bill Green, Water, Ice and Stone:Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes,
• 1997 - David Quammen, The Song Of The Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction,
• 1998 - John Alcock, In a Desert Garden:Love and Death Among the Insects,
• 1999 - Jan DeBlieu, Wind: How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and the Land,
• 2000 - Bernd Heinrich, Mind Of the Raven,
• 2001 - David M. Carroll, Swampwalker's Journal,
• 2002 - Ken Lamberton, Wilderness and Razor Wire,
• 2003 - Carl Safina, Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival,
• 2004 - Ted Levin, Liquid Land: A Journey Through The Florida Everglades,
• 2005 - Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses,
• 2006 - Donald Kroodsma, The Singing Life of Birds,
• 2007 - Ellen Meloy, Eating Stone: Imagination And The Loss Of The Wild,
• 2008 - Julia Whitty, The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific,
• 2009 - Franklin Burroughs, Confluence: Merrymeeting Bay,
• 2010 - Michael Welland, Sand: The Never-Ending Story,
• 2011 - Elisabeth Tova Bailey, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating,
• 2012 - Edward (Ted) Hoagland, Sex and the River Styx,
• 2013 - Thor Hanson, ,
• 2014 - Kathleen Jamie, Sightlines,
• 2015 - Sherry Simpson, Dominion of Bears,
• 2016 - Sharman Apt Russell, Diary of a Citizen Scientist, ^[3]
• 2017 - Brian Doyle, Martin Marten, ^[4]
• 2018 - David George Haskell, The Songs of Trees, ;^[5] a special John Burroughs Medal was given for Lifetime Achievement in Nature Poetry to Pattiann Rogers^[6]
• 2020 - Marilyn Sigman, Entangled: People and Ecological Change in Alaska's Kachemak Bay,
• 2021 - William Bryant Logan, Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020
• 2022 - Cal Flyn, Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape.
• 2023 - Kelby Ouchley, Bayou D’Arbonne Swamp: A Naturalist’s Memoir of Place, Louisiana State University Press.
• 2024 - Marina Richie, Halcyon Journey: A Search for the Belted Kingfisher, Oregon State University Press, 2022.

External links

• Web site: John Burroughs Medal Award List.

Notes and References

1. Web site: About the Awards. John Burroughs Association. March 12, 2018.
2. Web site: About the John Burroughs Association. John Burroughs Association. March 12, 2018.
3. http://www.johnburroughsassociation.org/literary-awards978-0870717529
4. Web site: Lake Oswego author Brian Doyle honored for nature writing.
5. Web site: David Haskell Wins 2018 John Burroughs Medal . John Burroughs Association. March 12, 2018.
6. Web site: Pattiann Rogers awarded John Burroughs Medal for lifetime achievement in nature poetry.