~Ethan Pearson, Class of 2024

A reflection on Elizabeth Kolbert’s “Under a White Sky”

“Nature is no longer an untamed beast; it is a creature molded by human hands.”

~Elizabeth Kolbert

The nature of today is modern. Under a White Sky, by Elizabeth Kolbert, shows me some of the ways that the nature of today is changing. Whether it’s about combating climate change, or protecting animal invasions, this compelling non-fiction book has taught me a lot about our world. Reading Under a White Sky forced me to think more deeply about nature in general, causing me to return to the 15th UN SDG: Life on Land. Most importantly, the book severely challenged my science and vocabulary skills; however, I didn’t give up and I learned so much about the modern solutions to nature’s problems. 

I started reading Under a White Sky as soon as I got the book; from Ms. Smith, and I realized I was hooked from the start. For a brief summary, I’ll start with the first part, where Elizabeth is on a boat in the canals of Chicago sometime in to 2010’s. First, she describes how Chicago was tasked with making the canals fish free. Then, the main topic switched to Asian Carp, the history behind them, but most importantly, why they are so invasive. One of the unique ways that people get rid of the Asian Carp problem is through Carp Fest. “‘Humans know how to overfish things.’ A few years ago Irons organized an event to encourage people to love carp to death. He called it CarpFest.” After talking about her experience at carp fest, she moved onto her experience in the southernmost point of New Orleans, called plaquemines. In this part, she mentions hurricane Katrina and flooding.

This format where each part she changes to another trip of hers stays the same for the rest of the book. The other places that she visited are Death Valley, Great Barrier Reef, other parts of Australia, and Greenland. 

When reading Under a White Sky, I found that Kolbert’s writing style, which is simply reflecting and recapping on her past trips, kept me engaged. When reading the book, I emerged into Elizabeth’s world and her incredible and intriguing trips around the world. This caused me to look deeper at these specific places, and the whole modern world in a unique way. Most importantly, it brought out the inner adventurous traveler that I am.  

2 months ago, I came into reading Under a White Sky with not much knowledge about any of the stuff mentioned in this book; nonetheless, I decided to accept the challenge and embark on a learning journey. It was most definitely worth it in the end.