Jennifer Ackerman

{{Short description|American nature writer}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Jennifer Ackerman

|image = Jennifer_Ackerman.jpg

|caption = Ackerman in 2017

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|known_for = The Genius of Birds

|occupation = Writer

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Jennifer Ackerman (born 1959) is an American author known for her ornithology books, including the bestselling book The Genius of Birds.{{cite news | title=The 20 Books That Defined Our Year | newspaper=Wall Street Journal | date=9 December 2016 | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-fiction-and-nonfiction-of-2016-1481307535 | access-date=2021-05-16}}

In that book, Ackerman posits that, contrary to popular metaphors such as "bird brained," birds are actually quite intelligent and think in complex ways.{{cite news |title=Events |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/646346396/ |access-date=16 May 2021 |work=The Virginia Gazette |date=March 14, 2020}} Called a "peppy survey of the science of bird intelligence" by The Guardian, the book was a New York Times best seller in 2017.{{cite web | title=Best Sellers - Books | website=New York Times | date=2017-01-01 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/animals/ | access-date=2021-05-16}} She followed up on this idea in her 2020 book The Bird Way combining personal observations and a literature review of the latest in bird research to discuss various aspects of bird life.{{cite web | title=Read an Excerpt From Jennifer Ackerman's New Book 'The Bird Way' | website=Audubon | date=2020-05-08 | url=https://www.audubon.org/news/read-excerpt-jennifer-ackermans-new-book-bird-way | access-date=2021-05-16}}{{cite web | last1=Fellows | first1=Olive | last2=Fellows/ | first2=Olive | title=The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman | website=Open Letters Review | date=2020-05-26 | url=https://openlettersreview.com/posts/the-bird-way-by-jennifer-ackerman | access-date=2021-05-16}} She was the narrator for the audiobook version of both books.{{cite web |title=Jennifer Ackerman |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/narrator/236275/jennifer-ackerman/ |website=Audio Publishing |publisher=Penguin Random House |access-date=16 May 2021}}

Ackerman is the author of eight books which have been published in more than 20 languages.{{cite web | title=Author Jennifer Ackerman to lead virtual discussion July 7 | website=Cape Gazette | url=https://www.capegazette.com/node/203680 | access-date=2021-05-16}} In addition to her published books, she is also a contributing writer to Scientific American, National Geographic, and The New York Times. She worked for National Geographic for nine years, editing their well-known book The Curious Naturalist.{{cite news |last1=Schoettler |first1=Carl |title=Lessons at Low Tide |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/373691908 |access-date=16 May 2021 |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=May 18, 1995}} She left that job to write freelance and spent time in Lewes, Delaware, researching the coastal area and writing her book Notes From the Shore which was reissued as Birds By the Shore in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Silva |first1=Annette |title=Authors book tugs at threads that unite Delaware coast |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/157285236 |access-date=16 May 2021 |work=The News Journal |date=March 29, 1995 |location=Wilmington, DE |page=41}}

Her earlier books focus on health topics, from the Strong Women's Guide to Total Health which she wrote with Miriam Nelson, to her book Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream which uses the framework of a single day to discuss a wide variety of things going on in the human body at various times.{{cite web | title=Nonfiction Book Review: Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body by Jennifer Ackerman, Author . Houghton Mifflin $25 (253p) ISBN 978-0-618-18758-4 | website=PublishersWeekly.com | date=2007-07-16 | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780618187584 | access-date=2021-05-16}}