It is no longer science fiction. The future is now people. Can we respond quicker to disturbances and mitigate climate change by planting tough places with drones? Matthew Aghai joins me from Droneseed to demystify this ever-adaptable technology. This company is scaling up to what Matthew refers to as “terraforming-level operations using biomimicry” - package seed up with resources to survive, load it into a swarm of aircraft and bombs away – plant forests.

Matthew Aghai is currently the Director of Research and Development at DroneSeed Co in Seattle. Previously his work as a consultant had sent him around the world to pursue reforestation including projects in the Central Midwestern US, intermountain US, the Pacific Northwest, the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, Europe, the Middle east and more. He has trained and practiced for over a decade as a nurseryman and restoration specialist. In addition to previous degrees in forestry and wildland management, he is a PhD Candidate at the University of Washington. Reforestation and native plant restoration have always been his mission.

Learn more about Droneseed https://www.droneseed.com/

Join #TeamTrees at https://teamtrees.org or check out video from Mark Rober - former NASA engineer, current YouTuber and friend of science https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7nJBFjKqAY

University of Washington Botanic Gardens’ Ecological Restoration Symposium in Seattle, WA was postponed until June 16th. It will now be a remote meeting. The theme is Pollinators, Pests, and Prey: Considering the roles of and mitigating for the influence of invertebrates within regional ecological restoration efforts https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/education/adults/conferences-symposia/ecological-restoration-symposium

Save the Date for February 8-11, 2021. The Society for Ecological Restoration Northwest and Western Canada Chapters present a Joint Regional Conference on Adapting Restoration Practices to a Changing Climate in Eugene, Oregon. I am organizing field trips, so please reach out to me if you have ideas about nearby sites to visit. https://chapter.ser.org/northwest/conferences/2021-regional-conference

Thanks for the Seattle band Dumb Thumbs for providing the theme song. You can find all of their tunes at dumbthumbs.bandcamp.com.

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