Science & Society: Do Forests Feel?
Join us for a consciousness-expanding conversation on the frontiers of forest ecology and plant intelligence with pathbreaking scientist Dr. Suzanne Simard and acclaimed journalist Zoë Schlanger.
For decades, the idea that plants might communicate, learn, or even possess a form of consciousness was relegated to the scientific fringes. Today, a new generation of rigorous research seeks to bridge the gap between human experience and the life of plants. On the occasion of the publication of Simard’s new book, When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World, we gather to ask: What does it mean for a forest to "feel"?
Hosted by geographer, author, and Pioneer Works Director of Publishing Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, our guests will delve into the sophisticated social networks of "mother trees" and the "light eaters" that make up our planet’s lungs. They will explore how plant intelligence research returned from the wilderness, the intellectual debates that remain, and how a deeper understanding of forest consciousness and connectivity might help us survive in a changing climate.
Pre-signed copies of When the Forest Breathes are available as a pre-order with RSVP; books will also be for sale at the event, which will feature a book signing with Suzanne Simard. Please note that seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Come early to see a collection of tree cross sections and cores, and learn how to decode the historical data stored in tree rings with scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Tree Ring Lab at Columbia University. We will play Mort Garson’s seminal 1976 synth album Mother Earth’s Plantasia, which was specifically recorded for plants.
After the conversation, join us in the garden for stargazing with the Amateur Astronomers Association, weather permitting. For All Things Good will be serving up fresh Mexican food available for purchase throughout the evening.
Our signature series Science & Society grapples with our relationships to nature and each other. Each episode leads us deep into humanity’s timely and intersectional challenges, from biodiversity to plastics, public knowledge, the high seas, farming, climate, and love.
About the speakers
Dr. Suzanne Simard is the New York Times bestselling author of Finding the Mother Tree. She is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia, where she leads The Mother Tree Project and co-directs the Belowground Ecosystem Group. Dr. Simard has earned a global reputation for pioneering research on tree connectivity and communication and the productivity, health, and biodiversity of forests. Her work has been published widely, with over 170 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Ecology, and Global Biology, and she has co-authored the book Climate Change and Variability. Her research has been communicated broadly through three TED Talks, TED Experiences, as well as articles and interviews in The New Yorker, National Geographic, NPR, CNN, and many more. She lives with her family in the mountains around Nelson, British Columbia. Her newest book is When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World.
Zoë Schlanger is an award-winning journalist and author of The Light Eaters, a New York Times bestselling book about the world of plant intelligence research, published by HarperCollins in 2024 and translated into more than 20 languages. She was previously a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covered climate change.
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is Director of Publishing at Pioneer Works and the co-editor-in-chief of Pioneer Works Broadcast. A geographer and writer, he teaches at NYU and writes for The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, among many other publications. His books include Island People, Names of New York, and, with Rebecca Solnit, Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas.