Monica Gagliano, PhD, is an internationally award-winning research scientist recognized by Biohabitats as one of the “24 Most Inspiring Women of Ecology” alongside Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson, Sylvia Earle, and Terry Tempest Williams. She has lectured and held visiting roles at UC Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Georgetown, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, National Geographic, The Guardian, Forbes, and more.

Gagliano pioneered plant bioacoustics, experimentally showing that plants emit sounds and can detect and respond to them. By demonstrating that learning and memory are not exclusive to animals, she expanded the conversation on plant cognition and reignited debates about plant subjectivity, ethics, and legal standing. Her approach blends rigorous scientific methods with ancestral knowledge—including insights from Amazonian shamans—to deepen our understanding of relationships between humans and plants. Working at the intersections of ecology, physics, law, anthropology, philosophy, literature, music, the arts, and spirituality, she rekindles wonder and invites more relational ways of living with the Earth.

She is the author of Thus Spoke the Plant (2018) and co-editor of The Mind of Plants (2021), The Language of Plants (2017), and The Green Thread (2015), alongside numerous scientific publications. A sought-after speaker at global conferences and public forums, Gagliano is currently a Research Associate Professor (Adjunct) in evolutionary ecology in Australia, a Fellow at the Center for Humans & Nature, and a member of the More-Than-Human Life (MOTH) Project. A free-roaming explorer, she bridges Western science and Indigenous knowledge to promote a holistic vision of the natural world and a profound respect for ecosystems. More at www.monicagagliano.com.