About the Author|Director

Catherine Zimmerman, an award-winning director of photography, celebrates her 46th year as a documentary filmmaker, working primarily on education and environmental issues. Environmental videos of hers include global warming documentaries for CNN Presents and New York Times Television; Save Rainforests/Save Lives, Freshfarm Markets, Wildlife Without Borders: Connecting People and Nature in the Americas, and America’s Sustainable Garden: United States Botanic Garden.

Catherine is also a certified horticulturist and landscape designer based in Southwest Ohio. She is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP) from the NOFA Organic Land Care Program and has designed and taught a course in organic landscaping for the USDA Graduate School Horticulture program.

Catherine grew up on a small farm in the 50′s and 60′s. As a fourth generation vegetable farmer, Catherine spent summers with her brothers, sisters and parents, planting, weeding and harvesting the organically managed family garden. This early experience helped form her approach to the land.

In May 2016 Catherine released Hometown Habitat, Stories of Bringing Nature Home, This 90 minute documentary is a collaboration with Dr. Douglas Tallamy. The film explores how and why native plants are critical to the survival and vitality of local eco-systems. Included are inspiring stories of habitat heroes, across the country, who are working to bring back nature to their hometowns.

In 2010 Catherine published Urban & Suburban Meadows, Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces. The book is a stunning and enticing introduction to meadowscaping that will encourage her readers do away with pesticides, reduce lawn and return their land to a beautiful, natural habitat for native plants and wildlife. The companion video was produced in 2012.

Catherine hopes that these projects will help fire up the movement toward making natural landscapes the new landscaping norm.