Elizabeth Kolbert (born July 6, 1961) is an American journalist, author, and visiting fellow at Williams College.

She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,[1] and as an observer and commentator on the environment for The New Yorker magazine.

After graduating from Mamaroneck High School, Kolbert spent four years studying literature at Yale University.

Kolbert served as the Times' Albany bureau chief from 1988 to 1991 and wrote the Metro Matters column from 1997 to 1998.

[4] Kolbert resides in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband, John Kleiner, and three sons (Ned, Matthew, and Aaron).