How Does Nature Do That? There’s something liberating about
being dumped in the middle of a jungle and told to observe its
organisms. You’re given permission to graze intellectually—to be
a child again experiencing the wonder of nature. With that
freedom you can’t help but see the multiple ways we can learn
from nature. When students apply what they’ve learned from
beetles, snakes, and trees to create solutions that help other
people, everyone benefits. I embrace Biomimicry 3.8 Institute
co-founder Janine Benyus’s definition of biomimicry as “the
conscious emulation of life’s genius”—solving human challenges
by asking, “How does nature do that?”. I used biomimicry years
before I read Janine’s book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by
Nature when I looked to riverside ecosystems for clues to better
manage water flows. But when I discovered her book, I found I
wasn’t alone. There were others out there doing this, and there
were excellent hands-on ways I could bring biomimicry to my
students. Biomimicry is one of