Science and poetry together may drive stronger conservation action

In an Essay published in the journal Science on 22 October 2026, Phillip Levin and David Hassler argue that poetry and other art forms can play a vital role in conservation by giving emotional and cultural meaning to scientific evidence. While science explains environmental change and identifies effective interventions, poetry can evoke empathy, wonder, grief, and a sense of responsibility that motivates people to care and take action.

Research suggests that combining artistic experiences with conservation science can deepen understanding of biodiversity and correct misconceptions about threatened species, strengthening people’s connection to the natural world. According to Levin and Hassler, art also broadens the scope of knowledge by bringing lived experience, cultural memory, and underrepresented perspectives into conservation discussions, particularly those of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

The authors frame the relationship between the two modes of knowing in direct terms. “Science reveals how the natural world works and how it is changing. Poetry reminds us why that world matters. Conservation needs both,” they write. “Understanding how they work together may become one of the field’s most important questions.”

The Essay, titled The microscope and the metaphor, presents this pairing as a substantive question for the discipline rather than a decorative afterthought. By the authors’ account, scientific measurement and artistic expression each address something the other does not: evidence without emotional resonance may fail to move people, while feeling without evidence may lack direction.

Levin and Hassler suggest that examining how science and poetry work together may become one of conservation’s most important inquiries, positioning the integration of measurement and meaning as a central challenge for the field.

Subject of Research: The role of poetry and art in conservation alongside scientific evidence

Article Title: Essay: Why conservation needs both science and poetry

Article References: Essay: Why conservation needs both science and poetry. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: conservation, poetry, science, art, biodiversity, Indigenous peoples, local communities, Science journal, essay, environment, needs, both