#  Natalia Schwien Scott 

 



   ![Natalia Schwien](/sites/g/files/omnuum4846/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/natalias/files/c8thuy6e.jpeg?itok=_bkJGnQj) 

 

**Natalia Schwien Scott (she/they)** is an herbalist, wildlife rescue & rehabilitation apprentice, and PhD Candidate in the Committee for the Study of Religion at Harvard University, researching comparative religion and science with a secondary field in Celtic Languages and Literatures. Her work focuses on interspecies ethics, frameworks of personhood, and thanatology. Her academic publications can be viewed [here](https://harvard.academia.edu/NataliaSchwien).

She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice as well as Masters in Arts degree from Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English with a focus on sci-fi and fantasy literature. She earned a BFA from New York University.

She has held three research and administrative positions at Harvard University. First, she was the founding Assistant Director then served as the Associate Director of the [Program for the Evolution of Spirituality under Dan McKanan](https://hds.harvard.edu/faculty-research/programs-and-centers/program-evolution-spirituality). She is now an advisor & program associate for the PES. Second, she leads "Interspecies Dialogues: A Conversation Group Exploring Animism, Posthumanism, and Entangled Roots of Interrelation" which regularly features scholars, writers, scientists, filmmakers, and animacy practitioners. Third, in Fall 2022, she co-launched the “[Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/launch-thinking-plants-and-fungi-initiative)” at the Center for the Study of World Religions. She then served as Advisor and Program Associate as well as led the program's [Reading Group](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/research-programming/thinking-plants-fungi/reading-group) until the Initiative’s conclusion in spring 2025. She was an Associate Editor for the Initiative’s [forthcoming edited volume. ](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674305113)

She formerly held the position of Sustainability Specialist at [Middlebury College's Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest](https://www.middlebury.edu/franklin-environmental-center) in Vermont. She has completed Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation coursework and apprenticed in Vermont and Massachusetts with wildlife rehabbers including [Wild on Blissville](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070027566638) and [ParkHill Wildlife Rehab](https://www.facebook.com/Parkhillwildliferehab) in VT and [Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in MA. ](https://newhousewildliferescue.org/)As a practicing herbalist, she has over 20 years of experience, including three years apprenticing with [Vanessa Chakour](https://www.vanessachakour.com/).

Her work in the music industry has been featured in New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, Vice, For The Wild, and more. She releases music under the moniker [Ellayo](https://ellayo.com/), and her personal website is [selkieprojects.com. ](https://www.selkieprojects.com/)