Finding the Mother Tree

with Professor Suzanne Simard Professor of Forest Ecology, University of British Columbia

Description

Dr. Suzanne Simard is changing how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest. In this inspiring and accessible talk, Dr. Simard helps audiences understand just how vital trees are—to each other and to humans. By bringing us into the intimate world of trees, Dr. Simard illuminates how trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but form complex, interdependent circles of life. As Dr. Simard illuminates for us, forests are social, cooperative creatures connected via underground networks through which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities in ways not that different from our own. Dr. Simard’s groundbreaking research explores how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, evolve, perceive one another, learn and adapt their behaviors, and remember the past. In helping us understand these complex ecosystems, Dr. Simard emphasizes the critical need to rethink our relationship with our natural world so we can begin to heal our climate.

Professor Suzanne Simard

Professor of Forest Ecology, University of British Columbia

Suzanne Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and the author of the book, Finding the Mother Tree.

She is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; and has been hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in a way that is dazzling and profound. Her work has influenced filmmakers (the Tree of Souls in James Cameron’s Avatar) and her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide.

Suzanne is known for her work on how trees interact and communicate using below-ground fungal networks, which has led to the recognition that forests have hub trees, or Mother Trees, which are large, highly connected trees that play an important role in the flow of information and resources in a forest. Her current research investigates how these complex relationships contribute to forest resiliency, adaptability and recovery and has far-reaching implications for how to manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change.

Suzanne has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and presented at conferences around the world. She has communicated her work to a wide audience through interviews, documentary films and her TEDTalk “How trees talk to one another”.

For more information on Suzanne, please visit prhspeakers.com

#rawwineALIVE

In partnership with