053 - Melissa L. Sevigny - Brave the Wild River

Writing Westward Podcast

A conversation with Melissa L. Sevigny about their book Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon (W. W. Norton, 2023).

Melissa L. Sevigny is a science journalist at the Arizona Public Radio station KNAU in Flagstaff. Her writing intersects science, nature, and history, with a focus on the American southwest. She earned a BS in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of Arizona and an MFA in Creative Writing and Environment from Iowa State University. In her new book, Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon (W.W. Norton, 2023), Sevigny relates the story of two remarkable scientists who took part in a successful rafting expedition through the Grand Canyon to study its botany. Their pioneering botanical discoveries were historic but the media at the time focuses primarily on a different historic aspect of their trip - they were the first two women to successfully raft the oft-treacherous waters.

Along with numerous shorter pieces of writing and journalism, Sevigny has published two other books: Under Desert Skies: How Tucson Mapped the Way to the Moon and Planets (University of Arizona Press, 2016) and Mythical River: Chasing the Mirage of New Water in the American Southwest (University Iowa Press, 2016). The latter of the two was honored with multiple awards. Her shorter-form writings and journalism have also received awards and honors.

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Podcast Notes:

• Host and Producer Brenden W. Rensink is Associate Director of the Redd Center, an Associate Professor of History at BYU, General Editor of the Intermountain Histories project, and author of the 2018 book Native but Foreign: Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands. Links to other publications and projects here: https://linktr.ee/bwrensink
• Support provided by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University.
  
• Podcast Music was written and recorded by local Provo composer by Micah Dahl Anderson.
• Episodes are recorded via Skype or in person and amateurishly engineered and produced by Professor Rensink.
• To submit a book to be considered for a podcast episode, email [email protected].