About Marina

Observing the intricacy of wild animal lives

Brief bio:

Marina Richie is an award-winning nature writer. Her 2026 book, Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees, features a foreword by David George Haskell. Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher won the 2024 John Burroughs Medal, a National Outdoor Book Award (gold), and a Foreword Indies award. Educated at the University of Montana (MA, Journalism) and the University of Oregon (BA, Biology), she has led conservation initiatives as a communications director, authored two children’s nature books (Bird Feats of Montana and Bug Feats of Montana) under a prior name, penned award-winning wayside exhibits, and now dedicates her time to writing books, poetry, and advocating for wildlands and wildlife.

More about Marina:

Growing up in a National Park Service family with a bird-loving father influenced Marina’s passion for protecting wildlife and wild places.

Weaving science, lyricism, and memoir in her writing, Marina seeks to bridge the divide separating people from nature. She’s particularly drawn to kingfishers, free-flowing rivers, ancient forests, waterfalls, alpine wildflowers, rocky coasts, and roadless areas.

A hiker, backpacker, and birder, Marina also tends a pollinator and bird-friendly yard. She is a board member of the Greater Hells Canyon Council and serves on the leadership team of the Bitterbrush Broads chapter of Great Old Broads for Wilderness.

Her articles, essays, blogs, and poems have appeared in National Wildlife, Audubon, Birding, Birdwatching, A.T. Journeys, Post Road Magazine, Montana Naturalist, Think Journal, Vision and Research View (University of Montana), Center for Humans and Nature, Lothlorien, Panorama, Humans of the World, and Tiny Seed Literary Journal.

Essays and poetry in book collections include: Field Notes from the Montana Natural History Center; Placed, An Encyclopedia of Central Oregon; and in Central Oregon Writers Guild 2023 and 2024 Literary Collections. She’s also written award-winning interpretive wayside exhibits.

In 2024, Marina wrote a series called “Every Wild Place Has a Story” for Oregon Wild’s 50th anniversary.

She served as the Greater Hells Canyon Council’s 2023-2025 Artist-in-Residence with watercolor artist Robin Coen. Together, they created a traveling exhibit and book titled “Refugia of the Blue Mountains,” which pairs Robin’s art with Marina’s poetry and prose.