Karen Bakker ❲2025❳

(1971–2023) was a transformative Canadian researcher, author, and entrepreneur who dedicated her life to bridge the gap between human technology and the natural world .

She passed away in August 2023, shortly after delivering a powerful TED Talk on the prospects of deciphering animal communication. Her colleagues and students remember her as a scholar who was "insatiably curious about Earth’s long-term future" and who believed that by learning to listen, we might finally learn to cohabitate. karen bakker

: How AI can decode individual orca calls and dialects passed down through generations. : How AI can decode individual orca calls

Bakker's final work, Gaia's Web , was published posthumously in 2024. It explored the concept of "digital environmentalism," arguing that while technology can be used for surveillance, it also offers a way to regenerate the Earth and cultivate deep empathy for non-human species. (1971–2023) was a transformative Canadian researcher