Robin Wall Kimmerer and Ursula Goodenough will be in conversation at Featherstone Center of the Arts on August 31 at 4 p.m. for an event called Writing to Heal the Earth.

“Both of these women are scientists but have chosen to write books for the rest of us and books about their relationship to nature,” said Mathea Morais, literary arts director at Featherstone and Ms. Goodenough’s daughter.

The conversation will center around the role of writers and artists in addressing the current climate crisis and will be moderated by West Tisbury resident Marc Favreau, author and editorial director of The New Press.

Ms. Kimmerer, Ph.D., is a professor of environmental biology and the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a nonfiction work that raises Indigenous knowledge as a supplement to Western science through her exploration of reciprocal relationships between humans, the land and all living things.

Similarly, Ms. Goodenough holds a Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University and authored The Sacred Depths of Nature, a new edition of which was released in February. The book outlines religious naturalism, a way of looking at science with a sense of wonder and hope.

“I think the two of them have a lot to talk about,” Ms. Morais said. “And anyone who really cares about taking care of this planet should be part of this audience.”

The event is free and weather permitting, it will be held outside — because “we should be outside when we’re having a conversation about outside,” Ms. Morais said.

She hopes the conversation will allow the speakers and the audience to consider how people can talk about problems of social, economic and environmental justice while also maintaining enough hope to act.

“We can’t really go a day at this point without being faced with the climate crisis,” Ms. Morais said. “So what do we do as people who can write and have knowledge? What’s our responsibility?”

For more information and to RSVP for the event, visit featherstoneart.org/literaryarts.