Wild Woman: Empowering Stories from Women Who Work in Nature

’Deeply personal and poignant’ BBC Countryfile

An engaging blend of conservation stories and humorous, personal anecdotes from Philippa Forrester about women who, like her, choose to live and work in the wild.

In Wild Woman, Philippa Forrester considers the grit and determination required for women to maintain connections to wildlife and succeed in the traditionally male-dominated fields of conservation and environmental biology. She shares stories of female conservation heroes and other extraordinary wild women working in nature and investigates the ways in which the natural world is a vital ’medicine’ for our mental health.

Talking to women from around the world, Philippa studies and celebrates what it means to be a wild woman. From the sixteenth-century botanist who was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe to modern-day women responding to bear attacks in Yellowstone, working to rewild reserves in South Africa, photographing Caribou in the Arctic and more, Philippa examines how these women benefit from a life spent in the wilderness and also considers what the natural world gains from them.

Relating some of her own experiences from three decades spent travelling around the world and working in some of the wildest places on Earth, Philippa asks: what does it take for a woman to live or work in the wild?

Philippa Forrester is a well-known TV and radio presenter. Passionate about the natural world, she has written and produced several award-winning nature documentaries and she completed a part-time degree in Ecology and Conservation. For six years, Philippa lived and worked in Wyoming encountering wolves, grizzly bears, moose and the odd cowboy. Since returning to the UK in 2020, she is rediscovering her own patch of wilderness, especially her favourite wild animal: otters. @philippaforrest