"When The Forest Breathes" with Suzanne Simard

Event Details

When
Mar 30, 2026 from 07:00 PM to 08:00 PM
Where
Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park
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A Nature of Writing Series Special Event, in partnership with Third Place Books

The Institute and Third Place Books are proud to welcome forest ecologist Suzanne Simard—author of the bestselling book Finding the Mother Tree, and a pioneering researcher on tree connectivity and communication—for a conversation about her new book, When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World. Suzanne will be joined in conversation by Indigenous scientist and climate justice leader Jessica Hernandez, author of Fresh Banana Leaves and Growing Papaya Trees. 

Tickets are required and selling fast! Reserve your seat today. 

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Raised in a family of loggers committed to sensible forest stewardship, trailblazing ecologist Suzanne Simard has watched as timber companies leave forests at higher risk for wildfires, water crises, and plant and animal extinction. But her research has the potential to chart a new course. The forest, she reveals, is a symphony of finely honed cycles of regeneration—from mushrooms breaking down logs to dying elder trees passing their genetic knowledge to younger ones—that hold the key to protecting our forests. Working closely with local Indigenous communities, whose models of responsible forestry have been largely dismissed, Simard examines how human interventions—particularly destruction of the overstory's mother trees—endanger new growth and longevity. If we can honor the tools that trees have honed for sharing intergenerational wisdom, she argues, we can protect these sacred places for many years to come.

As she considers how older living things facilitate the conditions for new growth to flourish, Simard faces parallel rhythms of loss and regeneration in her own life, watching her two daughters grow into adults and savoring her final days with her ailing mother. Animated by wonder for our forests and the intricate practices of caretaking that have long sustained them, When the Forest Breathes is a vital reminder of all the natural world has to teach us about adaptability, resilience, and community.