In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off down the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious expedition leader and three amateur boatmen. No one had surveyed the Grand Canyon’s plants, and they were determined to be the first. In Brave the Wild River, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny traces their forty-three-day journey, during which they ran rapids, chased a runaway boat, and turned their harshest critic into an ally. Their story is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a little-known corner of the American West, at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever.

Melissa L. Sevigny is a science reporter and author of three books, most recently Brave the Wild River (W.W. Norton, 2023). She’s worked as a science communicator in the fields of space exploration, water policy, and sustainable agriculture. Her stories have been awarded regional Edward R. Murrow awards and featured nationally on Science Friday.

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