The UNM School of Architecture + Planning welcomes Priyanka Kumar, who will present the school's first lecture of this semester on Monday, Oct. 5, 5-7 p.m., in the Garcia Honda Auditorium. Kumar will discuss her book, "The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit," which will be followed by a book signing by the author and reception.

Kumar is an award-winning author and an internationally acclaimed naturalist and filmmaker. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Orion, and Sierra. She has also taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Southern California, and she currently holds a letter of academic title at the School of Architecture + Planning. She also serves on the Advisory Council of the Leopold Writing Program and on the board of New Mexico Writers.

Her awards include a Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies Fellowship, a New Mexico/New Visions Governor's Award, an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Fellowship, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award. Her newest book, "The Grassland Queen," will be published by Princeton University Press in November 2026.

For information on this and future events at the UNM School of Architecture + Planning, visit saap.unm.edu.