Paul Hawken has been intensely curious about the living world since he was two years old. PBS named his University of Portland speech, “You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring,” the best commencement speech of 2009, which originated from what he saw as a child. He works with two major food companies to transform 2,000,000 farms to regenerative agriculture by microbial restoration of the soil. He is the author of nine books, six of which are NYT and national bestsellers. The books are translated into 30 languages and have sold over two million copies in 50 countries. The most recent book, Carbon: The Book of Life, was published in March 2025. He has served on the boards of several environmental organizations, including the Center for Plant Conservation, Conservation International, the Trust for Public Land, Friends of the Earth, and the National Audubon Society. He has received six honorary doctorates, is the founder of Project Drawdown and Project Regeneration, and author of Drawdown and Regeneration. He dwells in the Cascade Creek watershed with his wife Jasmine, along with coyotes, gray fox, bobcats, Pacific Chorus frogs, Common Ravens, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Spotted Owls, and Pileated Woodpeckers.