Merlin Sheldrake (GBR/USA)

Biologist and author

Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist, writer, and speaker with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He is the author of the worldwide bestseller Entangled Life (2020).

Merlin´s research ranges from fungal biology, to the history of Amazonian ethnobotany, to the relationship between sound and form in resonant systems. He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He is a research associate of the Vrije University Amsterdam, works with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), and sits on the advisory board of the Fungi Foundation.

A keen brewer and fermenter, Merlin is fascinated by the relationships that arise between humans and more-than-human organisms. He is also a musician, performs on the piano and accordion, and is a member of the London-based Gentle Mystics.