Our connections with nature can help heal and refresh our lives. Think of how your day can be changed by a visit from a tiny hummingbird. Or how different you feel after spending some time in a forest.

We created a story that brought this idea to life. It sounds different from the other episodes from this season of Rooted: Where We Stand. That’s because “Finding Yourself At Lake Serene” is a fictional love story with voice actors and sound design. Think of it like a modern day version of an old-timey radio drama. Happy listening!

Take a ride on a research boat in the middle of Bellingham Bay and collect phytoplankton with badass scientist Rosa Hunter.

Rosa runs the lab at the Salish Sea Research Center. It’s part of the Northwest Indian College on the Lummi Indian Reservation in Washington state. 

Rosa’s been told she’s not like other lab managers. Students aren’t used to seeing someone like Rosa lead a lab – Mexican and Native, covered in tattoos. Someone who dropped out of high school and spent time in prison.

But for Rosa, western science and Indigenous knowledge go hand in hand. She even had a realization that she comes from a long line of scientists, including her grandmother who would take her to go clamming on the beach.

Find out how the tiniest specks of life can teach us about climate change and why “Horton Hears A Who” is the best book ever, on this episode of Rooted: Where We Stand.

March 22, 2014. The deadliest landslide in U.S. history hits Oso, Washington.

8 years later, we visit the neighboring town of Darrington to see how a small town has picked up the pieces, with eyes set on the future. 

Take a tour through Darrington with us – from the passenger seat of the mayor’s Subaru. 

We’ll swing by downtown and see the Darrington of past, present, and future through the eyes of Mayor Dan Rankin.

We’ll talk to young people in Darrington who are deciding whether to leave town or stay. 

We’ll pass by the site of the deadliest landslide in U.S. history, a constant reminder that locals need to drive past regularly.

And we’ll cross over the Sauk River Bridge to visit the site of a future center that will produce a game-changing type of wood, cross-laminated timber.

This is a story about a small town with one hell of a spirit that may give other places ideas for how to breathe new life into their hometowns.

The tree whisperer is back. 

Kathy Wolf is back! She’s a research social scientist at the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and UW’s Nature and Health Initiative. Nature-based human health, environmental psychology, and urban ecosystems are her jam. 

We loved our conversation with her so much, we decided to release it in full. She shares how trees affect our physical and mental health, how just a few minutes in nature can positively impact us, and what she would do with a magic wand that could change our world.

Just a few minutes in nature – even just looking at images of trees – can have positive impacts on our physical and mental health. As mental health rates rise globally, we could all use the help. 

We’ll learn about some of the research on nature’s effects on human health, from a leading research social scientist. 

And then we’ll go back to school to learn what the heck a tree canopy is and why it matters. Well, this school might look a little different than yours, unless you also hugged trees before math class.

This year hasn’t been kind to farmers. Between the extreme weather and the soaring prices of fuel and fertilizer, farmers could use some good. 

When your tractor stops working, sometimes you need to send a text to someone who gets it so you can laugh instead of scream. 

Sheep farmer Linda Neunzig gets it. She knows from personal experience that farmers need to lean on each other during hard times. She even has a flood evacuation love story.

Listen to the Trailer for Forterra's upcoming podcast series, Rooted: Where We Stand.

Listen to the first three episodes now!