Forests have long occupied a fertile landscape in the human imagination. Places of mystery and magic – of wildness and wisdom – of vision and dreaming. Yet beyond mythic realms of

Forests have long occupied a fertile landscape in the human imagination. Places of mystery and magic – of wildness and wisdom – of vision and dreaming. Yet beyond mythic realms of imagination, we’ve largely treated forests as inert physical resources to satisfy human needs and desires. The main operative science behind this commodification has been market science – how to extract maximum resources and profits.


Suzanne Simard is a revolutionary researcher who is transforming the science of forest ecology and coming full circle to the wisdom held by First Peoples and traditional land-based cultures from time immemorial. The story Simard is uncovering can change our story for how we live on Earth and with each other, for the long haul.
Featuring


Suzanne Simard, Professor of Forestry at the University of British Columbia, is an expert in the synergies and complexities of forests, as well as the development of sustainable forest stewardship practices. Her groundbreaking research focuses on the relationships between plants, microbes, soils, carbon, nutrients, and water that underpin the adaptability of ecosystems, particularly the below-ground fungal networks that connect trees and facilitate interplant communication. Learn more about Suzanne Simard and her work at her website. (https://suzannesimard.com/)
Explore More


Dispatches From the Mother Trees (https://bioneers.org/suzanne-simard-dispatches-from-mother-trees-zstf2112/) , Suzanne Simard’s keynote address to the 2021 Bioneers Conference, in which she discusses the dire global consequences of logging old-growth rainforests, and nature-based solutions that combine Western science and Indigenous knowledge for preserving and caring for these invaluable forest ecosystems for future generations.


Lessons from the Underground (https://bioneers.org/lessons-from-the-underground-panel-zstf2112/) , a panel discussion from the 2021 Bioneers Conference featuring Suzanne Simard as well as Anne Biklé and David R. Montgomery, a wife and husband team of scientific researchers whose groundbreaking work on the microbial life of soil has revealed its crucial importance to human wellbeing and survival. Moderated by Bioneers’ Restorative Food Systems Director Arty Mangan. 


Intelligence in Nature (https://bioneers.org/intelligence-in-nature-media-collection/) , a deep-dive resource featuring leading experts in this burgeoning field.


What We Owe Our Trees (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/05/29/what-we-owe-our-trees) , an article by Jill Lepore in the New Yorker.






This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage (https://bioneers.org/bioneers-radio/)  to learn more.

"How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis,” a fundraiser for Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and book launch for “The Story is in Our Bones.”

"How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis,” a fundraiser for Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and book launch for “The Story is in Our Bones.”

Many thanks to the amazing speakers! Speakers included:
Corrina Gould (Ohlone)— Tribal spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan and Director of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Isabella Zizi (Northern Cheyenne, Muskogee Creek and enrolled Three Affiliated Tribes)— Organizer with Idle No More SF Bay and Movement Rights
Leila Salazar-Lopez —Executive Director Amazon Watch
Osprey Orielle Lake —Founder and Executive Director Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) and author of "The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis.”
Moderation: Tracey Osborne— Associate Professor in the Management of Complex Systems Department at the University of California, Merced
---------------------------
We are at a choice point for humanity. As social and ecological crises escalate globally, it is clear that the dominant cultural worldview, informed by colonization, patriarchy, capitalism, and racism is displaying a relationship with Nature and each other that is devastatingly unjust and out of balance.

To live in a healthy and equitable world, we must fundamentally change how we respect and interact with the Earth and one another. To change the present and future, it is imperative to change the narrative and amplify worldviews and stories of solutions that transform the dominant worldview from an extractivist, colonial paradigm of exploit and extract to a thriving, globally-conscious one of respect and restore.

During this event, movement leaders and change-makers wove together stories, worldviews, and experiences of restoration and justice that demonstrate the world we know is possible and needed. We knew in our bones this time was coming. And now we must act in solidarity more than ever, as we continue building a powerful movement founded on principles of justice, love, and a fierce dedication to our planet and our communities.

This event was both a fundraiser for Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and the launch of the book by Osprey Orielle Lake, "The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis." All book proceeds at this event will be donated to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust to support the powerful work of Corrina Gould and her leadership in the urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the San Francisco Bay Area that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

To learn more about the book: https://ospreyoriellelake.earth
To learn more about Sogorea Te’ Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/
To learn more about the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network: https://www.wecaninternational.org/

Nature’s Genius is a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. For all the talk about

Nature’s Genius is a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. For all the talk about the Age of Information, what we’re really entering is the Age of Nature. As we face the reality that, as humans, we have the capacity to destroy the conditions conducive to life, avoiding this fate requires a radical change in our relationship to nature, and how we view it. Looking to nature to heal nature, and ourselves, is essential. 


Traditional Indigenous wisdom and modern science show us that everything is connected and that the solutions we need are present in the sentient symphony of life. We can learn from the time-tested principles, processes, and dynamics that have allowed living systems to flourish during 3.8 billion years of evolution. 


In this enlightening series, we visit with scientists, ecologists, Indigenous practitioners of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, community organizers, and authors reporting from the frontlines of ecological restoration. They explore the intelligence inherent in nature and show us how to model human organization on living systems.


Guests featured in the series include: Jeannette Armstrong - Co-Founder, Enwokin Centre; Brock Dolman - Co-Founder and Program Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Erica Gies - Author and Journalist; Brett KenCairn - Founding Director of Center for Regenerative Solutions (https://naturebasedclimate.solutions/) ; Toby Kiers - Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Co-Founder of SPUN (https://www.spun.earth/) ; Kate Lundquist - Water Institute Co-Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Samira Malone - Urban Forestry Program Manager, Urban Sustainability Directors Network; Teresa Ryan - Teaching and Learning Fellow, Forest and Conservation Sciences Dept., Univ. of British Columbia; Merlin Sheldrake - Biologist and Author; Suzanne Simard - Author and Prof. of Forest Ecology, Univ. of British Columbia; Rowen White - Seedkeeper/Farmer and Author from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne


Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel


Written by Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel


Produced by Cathy Edwards


Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch


Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris


Producer: Teo Grossman


Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey


Post Production Assistants: Monica Lopez and Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher


Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

Imagine an underground web of mind-boggling complexity, a bustling cosmopolis beneath your feet. Quadrillions of miles of tiny threads in the soil pulsate with real-time messages, trade vital

Imagine an underground web of mind-boggling complexity, a bustling cosmopolis beneath your feet. Quadrillions of miles of tiny threads in the soil pulsate with real-time messages, trade vital nutrients, and form life-giving symbiotic partnerships. This is the mysterious realm of fungi. Acclaimed visionary biologists Toby Kiers and Merlin Sheldrake guide us through the intricate wonders of the mycorrhizal fungal networks that make life on Earth possible.


This is an episode of Nature's Genius, a Bioneers limited series. Visit the series page to learn more.


Featuring


Toby Kiers, Ph.D., is the Executive Director and Chief Scientist of SPUN (the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks) (https://www.spun.earth/) and a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at VU, Amsterdam.


Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D., is a biologist and writer with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He is currently a research associate of the Vrije University Amsterdam, works with the SPUN, and sits on the advisory board of the Fungi Foundation (https://www.ffungi.org/) .


Credits



•
Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel


•
Written by: Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel


•
Produced by: Cathy Edwards


•
Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch


•
Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris


•
Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey


•
Producer: Teo Grossman


•
Graphic Design: Megan Howe



Resources


Merlin Sheldrake – How Fungi Make our Worlds (https://bioneers.org/merlin-sheldrake-fungi-make-worlds-zstf2404/) | Bioneers 2024 Keynote


Merlin Sheldrake and Toby Kiers – Mapping, Protecting and Harnessing the Mycorrhizal Networks that Sustain Life on Earth (https://bioneers.org/merlin-sheldrake-and-toby-kiers-mapping-protecting-and-harnessing-the-mycorrhizal-networks-that-sustain-life-on-earth/) | Bioneers 2024 Panel Discussion


Interview with Merlin Sheldrake, Author of Entangled Life (https://bioneers.org/interview-merlin-sheldrake-entangled-life-ztvz2007/)


Deep Dive: Intelligence in Nature (https://bioneers.org/intelligence-in-nature-media-collection/)


Earthlings: Intelligence in Nature (https://bioneers.org/earthlings/) | Bioneers Newsletter


SPUN (the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks) (https://www.spun.earth/)


Fungi Foundation (https://www.ffungi.org/)