Janine Benyus: Meet the Godmother of (Modern) Biomimicry

Have you heard of the godmother of biomimicry? 

I imagine you have. Janine Benyus is often considered the pioneer who brought about the brilliance of biomimicry and nature-inspired innovation in modern times. 

Of course, anyone looking into the world of biomimicry is likely to come across her name or best-selling book. In fact, a quick Google search on biomimicry suggests other popular questions asked, like: “Who is the mother of biomimicry?” and indeed, the answer provided is “Janine Benyus”. Of course it is. Thanks Google.  

Janine is a seasoned speaker, often invited to flagship international events including the Bioneers 2025. Read about Janine and the 10 Inspiring Bioneers and What They Taught Me (written by Learn Biomimicry's Director Alistair Daynes on his experience at the 2025 Bioneers). 

But for those who don't know yet, Janine Benyus is an American biologist and natural sciences writer. She is a Jane of all trades - doing everything from founding the world’s first bio-inspired consultancy to writing books to keynote speaking. She co-founded the Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry 3.8 - two biomimicry consulting companies that later became one. She also co-founded the non-profit organization The Biomimicry Institute in 2006. 

Today, Biomimicry 3.8 consults for organizations world wide, guiding them towards life-friendly products, services and processes by emulating Nature’s genius. Biomimicry 3.8 also offers biomimicry training to organizations. 

The Biomimicry Institute exists to spread awareness about and promote biomimicry as a life-wide approach, and to provide solutions to combat climate change and biodiversity loss through biomimicry. Some of their current programs include AskNature, the AskNature Hive and the Ray of Hope Accelerator, among others.

Janine is a regular guest on podcasts, like Kirsten Tippet's interview with her called "Biomimicry, an Operating Manual for Earthlings". You can find out more about it, and other biomimicry podcasts here.

Janine has also hosted two TED Talks, see them here.

Need-to-Knows About Janine Benyus

Below are some known, and some lesser-known facts about Janine! 

• Janine Benyus is seen as a thought leader on the practice of biomimicry.
• She is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books.
• She was born in New Jersey, but now lives in Stevensville, Montana in the United States. 
• She holds a degree in Natural Resource Management, and she also has a Bachelors Degree in English Literature.
• Her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature was published in 1997. It became widely read, and popularised the term “biomimicry” (however she did not coin the term as many believe. It first appeared in a paper by Connie Lange Merrill in 1984).
• She is the co-founder of two world-leading biomimicry organisations.
• She has presented two Ted Talks.
• She has won 11 internationally recognized awards.
• She’s worked with Boeing, Colgate-Palmolive, Nike, General Electric, Herman Miller, HOK architects, IDEO, Interface, Natura, Procter and Gamble, Levi’s, and many other organizations.
• Another fun fact you might not have known: She's an avid music fan, and was a DJ in college! 
• and this list continues to grow (I suspect it will keep growing for a long time).

Janine Benyus’ Books & Famous Works

Through her research, books, talks, interviews and consulting work, Janine Benyus has done monumental work in educating others about biomimicry over the past decades. And she doesn’t just preach, she practices. 

Benyus has worked with major companies across the world and helped them to apply biomimicry in product design, urban design, chemistry and various other fields. 

In 2008 the Biomimicry Institute launched AskNature.org, "an encyclopedia of nature's solutions to common design problems". The Biomimicry Institute has become a key communicator in the field of biomimicry and biomimetics, connecting 12,576+ member practitioners and organizations in 36 regional networks and 21 countries through its Biomimicry Global Network as of 2020.

Below are books and papers written or co-written by Janine Benyus.

• The Biomimicry Resource Handbook by Biomimicry 3.8. Co-written with Burmeister D; Tocke R; Dwyer J; Ritter S. Published: 2013
• All we can save. Anthology of essays written by various female climate activists. Published: 2020
• The secret language and remarkable behavior of animals. Published:1998
• Biomimicry: innovation inspired by nature. Published: 1997 

• Beastly behaviors: a zoo lover's companion. Published: 1992
• Wildlife in the Upper Great Lakes Region: a community profile. Co-written with Buech, Richard R.; Nelson, Mark D. Published: 1992
• Northwoods wildlife: a watcher's guide to habitats. Published:1989
• The field guide to wildlife habitats of the eastern United States. Published:1989
• The field guide to wildlife habitats of the western United States. Published: 1989
• Christmas tree pest manual. Published: 1983

What is Janine Benyus Doing Today?

Janine spends as much time in nature as she can, like canoeing in the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness.

In short - a lot! When she's not writing or giving keynote speeches about biomimicry, she works with Biomimicry 3.8. She also still serves on the board of the Biomimicry Institute. 

Benyus has served on various boards, including the Board of Directors for the U.S. Green Building Council and the advisory boards of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and Project Drawdown. 

She's also an affiliate faculty member in The Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University.

To unwind, she dances and (still) DJs at home - every night! 

Our Top Janine Benyus Quotes

Janine has imparted great wisdom. See our favourite Janine-quotes below.

Note: The images below are free to share, provided the user credits and links back to Learn Biomimicry. 

1. “I allow myself to fall continually and deeply in love with the natural world every day.”

2. “The answers to our questions are everywhere; we just need to change the lens with which we see the world.”

3. “There are literally as many ideas as there are organisms.”

4. “What would Nature do?"

5.  “We’re basically midwifing a new discipline.”

Janine Benyus on meeting Claire Janisch (a co-founder of Learn Biomimicry)

Claire Janisch (late), who was a co-founder of Learn Biomimicry, met Janine Benyus at the first-ever formal biomimicry qualification program, Arizona State University's Biomimicry Professional Certification (BPro). After that, they met up again in South Africa.

Claire Janisch in South Africa's Kruger National Park. 

“We talked about this dream of running biomimicry courses in South Africa, and expanding into Africa,” Claire once said. This dream then became a reality, and BiomimicrySA was born. Later, Learn Biomimicry was co-founded by Claire and Learn Biomimicry's current Directors, Alistair Daynes and Jess Berliner. 

Thus, Janine was also in a way part planting the seed that would become Learn Biomimicry, and is still a great friend of Learn Biomimicry today. 

"When young seedlings connect to a healthy mycelial web, they instantly plug into the nourishment, knowledge, and generosity of the collective," Janine says. "In the same way, Learn Biomimicry connects biomimics to the good stuff—to Nature’s evolved wisdom and to one another."  

"Claire Janisch, who started it all, would be delighted so see how brilliantly Learn Biomimicry is nourishing  our community."

In Closing 

Janine Benyus has both sparked and helped shape the biomimicry movement. Though even she would say, she stands on the shoulders of giants - both in our wilderness and people. 

Through tireless teaching, visioning and research, she is seen as one of the most authoritative and influential figures in the field. She is also just an absolute delight of a human being… and one who spreads wonder wherever she goes.  

We’re excited to see what she achieves next.

Interested in learning more about biomimicry?

Here are 3 ways we can help you: 

1. If you're new to biomimicry, download the free eBook: A Field Guide to Biomimicry for an introduction, clear explanations and examples. 

2. If you're interested in more, the Biomimicry Short Course set -you can try it for free - will give you a solid understanding of the history of biomimicry, Life's Principles and the design methodologies through videos, handbooks and real-world case studies. (Save $149 on the full set, including a 7-day free trial).

2. If you're ready to step it up and get practical, the Biomimicry Practitioner Programme is a 6-month, project based course where a hands-on mentor will guide you to apply biomimicry practically through a project.