Unrooted

"Erin Zimmerman has exposed a rooted gender failure in science. Her book is important not for this alone. Her work is essential for understanding the future resilience of all flora on this planet." -Diana Beresford-Kroeger, author of To Speak for the Trees

"Zimmerman candidly and brilliantly defines her juggling of a botany career with parenthood as death by a thousand cuts. Her stories are riveting, and I highly recommend this book." -Margaret Lowman, author of Life in the Treetops: Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology

"Unrooted is an insightful, passionate, and necessary look at the complex relationships between women and science. Merging gorgeous memoir with science, history, and adventure, Zimmerman celebrates the ways that women find their own pathways to authentic success." -Juli Berwald, author of Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone

"In Unrooted, Erin Zimmerman turns her attention towards the dying science of botany, and the enduring misogyny in the world of scientific research that has excluded women—and, in particular, mothers—for centuries. This is a call to ... make space for motherhood within the realms of scientific research and academia."  —Jessica Moore, author of The Whole Singing Ocean

"In Unrooted, Erin Zimmerman masterfully interweaves her journey through science with the story of the science she loves—botany—a vital and threatened discipline. Through her eyes I found myself appreciating the worlds held in a dried-up seed pod, and through her experiences I found myself infuriated at the ways scientific research systematically drives women from its ranks. Zimmerman offers a rich historical context for the work of science, as well as a glimmer of hope for a robust and democratic future for the field, and through it, for the planet. Unrooted speaks to the child in each of us who swam in the wonder of nature, the parents struggling to be our full selves, the humans fearing for how we've threatened the future of the Earth. This is a tender, insightful, and vitally important book." —Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life

"Erin Zimmerman offers readers that rare gift: a prismatic view of the world through both art and science. Unrooted is a gorgeous yet frank exploration of botany, motherhood, and the realities of being female in research." —Caroline Van Hemert, author of The Sun is a Compass

"Unrooted tells a moving story about botany, women, and children, showing how modern science is driving out mothers like Zimmerman at a time when we need their expertise and love of nature the most. Beautifully written, profound, and funny." —Susanne Wedlich, author of Slime