Trees can talk. That’s the surprising discovery at the heart of ecologist Suzanne Simard’s over thirty-five years of research in the forests of Canada, where she grew up.

Her new book, Finding the Mother Tree, is in many ways an autobiography, tracing her family’s connection to the land. But it’s also about her years of study into how trees cooperate, communicate, and express their intelligence.

Today, Suzanne joins Monday host Patty Peltekos on the show to talk about trees, the web of life in forests, and the future of the forest as we face yet another summer of intense wildfires fueled by climate change.

Suzanne Simard is a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia. Her work has influenced filmmakers (the Tree of Souls in James Cameron’s Avatar) and her TED talks, including her 2016 presentation “How trees talk to each other,” have been viewed by more than ten million people worldwide. She is the author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (Knopf, 2021).

Cover photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash