From acclaimed agrarian activist and ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, a profoundly inspiring account of interspecies belonging, collaborative conservation, and the sacred work of caring for the earth. “I went looking for water in the desert and found that the world was teaching me how to listen.” Celebrated as a “world visionary” ( Utne Reader ) and our “lyrical poet of biodiversity” ( Mother Jones ), Gary Paul Nabhan has authored dozens of books and been awarded a MacArthur “genius grant.” In  Water in the Desert , he traces the fascinating story of his life, offering in the process a vision for cultural renewal. As a Lebanese-American boy growing up in the dunes along Lake Michigan’s southern shore, where school is excruciating and symptoms of neurodivergence are diagnosed as disabilities, Nabhan finds refuge and revelation in the natural world. In college, he gravitates to the thinkers now associated with the dawn of ecology as a discipline, writes poetry, and travels to Ecuador and Sonora, Mexico, where he first encounters the Indigenous communities that will come to play a significant role in his life and work. His interest in earth-based spiritual practices leads him to take vows as an Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, which reminds him that “the earth itself—creation, for that matter—was the original scripture.” Late in life, he returns to the land of his Arab ancestors, where he discovers a vision of kinship and climate resilience grounded in faith and ecology. And finally, when construction of the southern border wall begins, he collaborates with religious leaders to affirm Indigenous rights to the sacred places threatened by construction. At once a refreshing account of a pathbreaking scientist-activist’s kinship with other species and cultures and an inspiring guide to the deeply collaborative ethic and practice of care required to flourish in kinship on Earth,  Water in the Desert  is a book for our time. “ Water in the Desert is a generous invitation to follow the many streams that flow into the river of Gary Paul Nabhan’s remarkable life and work. Drawing on family, teachers, cultures, and the teachings of diverse biocultural landscapes, he brings science to the service of land and culture, showing us what it looks like to reciprocate the gifts of nature with gifts of head, hands, and heart.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass " Water in the Desert is the enthralling story of a world-class ethnobotanist and agrarian visionary." —Denis Hayes, coordinator of the inaugural Earth Day celebration  "Set against the upheavals of the late 1960s, this fascinating account follows a young man whose political awakening, illness, and retreat into wild places become acts of survival. Gary Paul Nabhan beautifully recounts a story of moral courage as well as the transformative power of the natural world. Readers will be captivated by Water in the Desert , its meaning, resistance, and wonder resonating long after the last page." —Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Fencing with the King and Crescent "Gary Paul Nabhan is a human pollinator, cross-fertilizing and enlivening all the touches. With this remarkable and inspiring book, that work will continue far into the future." —Lewis Hyde, author of The Gift " Water in the Desert is a naturalist’s trance, an inspiring and compelling parable about healing and repair in a time of destruction. With his deep empathy for people, commitment to a life’s work, and scientific rigor, Gary Paul Nabhan has the eye of a naturalist and the voice of a prophet. Brother, father, and defender, Nabhan not only has taught us what the desert smells like, but models for us a deep respect for the cultures that arose from that land and for the wisdom of their relationships with other species. Water in the Desert reminds us that the world sang us all into being and offers us vivid dreams of sentient beings and ancestors, ecotones and song maps, stories of caretaking and Ojos de Aguas, racism and Martin Luther King's  assassination and, finally, seeing the world whole. Nabhan is a translator between worlds, an edge walker who prefers solitude but knows animals as kin, and helps us to see and to smell and to love. Water in the Desert shows that life was always waiting for Nabhan, and for all of us." —Peter Forbes, author of A Man Apart “Soul-nourishing, wildly informative, crucially redemptive, and not to be missed!” —Naomi Shihab Nye, author of Everything Comes Next “Gary Paul Nabhan's extraordinary empathy for the Earth shines through in this luminous, enlightening, and compelling book. As a toddler taking in the songs and scents of the world around him, he exemplified a child's bonding with Nature. As a youth he explored the sand dunes and deep waters of Lake Michigan, their flora and fauna; he took part in launching the first Earth Day, became a scientist, an activist, a champion of local food. From the deserts of the Southwest and the Sahara to the Sea of Cortes, th