Brave the Wild River: Webinar
30th Anniversary River Tour Series
Join us for the last 30th Anniversary Virtual River Tour!
As we welcome author Melissa L. Sevigny to virtually present her new book, Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon
Virtual: Thursday, March 26th, from 7-8pm.
Hear from the author, Melissa L. Sevigny with a 45-minute presentation, followed by a short Q&A. Dive deeper into the riveting tale of two pioneering botanists and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Register using the form to receive the link to the Zoom meeting.
Register here for the Zoom link!
In Brave the Wild River, Melissa Sevigny unfurls one of the finest river stories of the Grand Canyon while presenting a long overdue, richly deserved, and beautifully written tribute to a pair of legendary botanists who peeled back the petals of a mysterious, intoxicating landscape, and made it blossom with new knowledge and wonder.
— Kevin Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile
Melissa Sevigny, a rising star in science writing, has written a captivating book that journeys through the American West in company of two intrepid women botanists. This is a book celebrating women in science, particularly those adventurers who defied the bounds imposed on their gender to encounter the natural world in its wild power and beauty. This book redefines the Grand Canyon not as testing ground for masculine virility but as proving ground for women’s tenacity and intelligence. Brave the Wild River, filled with adventure and fresh seeing, makes a superb contribution to literature of the American West.
— Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of The Woven World
Melissa L. Sevigny
Melissa L. Sevigny is a distinguished science writer and communicator whose work artfully bridges the realms of nature, history, and rigorous scientific inquiry. Raised on a four-acre stretch of Sonoran Desert near Tucson, Arizona, she developed an early affinity for geology, ecology, and the night skies—elements that continue to shape and energize her creative voice.
Sevigny’s writing stands out for its lyrical yet rigorous blending of science and story. By telling the forgotten tales of landscapes, rivers, deserts, and the people who studied them, she invites us to reconsider our relationship with nature and history. Whether tracing a Mars mission or a botany expedition through the Grand Canyon, her storytelling is grounded in deep research, immersive description, and a genuine sense of place.