Treekeepers
The Race for a Forested Future with Dr. Lauren Oakes
I like to think that the vast majority of our readers and listeners have a great affection and appreciation for the outdoors. Maybe like me you grew up on the rivers and in the woods of the American Southeast. Or maybe again like me you find yourself regularly hiking the great spaces of the Rocky Mountain West. Or maybe you do your own thing outdoors, perhaps fishing with your kids and grandkids, catching bluegills by the dozen over the summer. The point is, I don’t think any of us can look around and not be witness to the majesty of forests here in North America and elsewhere. They are part of the ecosystem and they are part of us.
So for this week’s episode of Reckoning, I wanted to bring on one of the foremost experts of global forestry to talk about the urgent need for effective reforestation efforts and the complexities of understanding the state of the world's forests. Plus, we talk about the dual narrative of loss and growth in forest ecosystems, emphasizing the importance of preserving existing forests while also working on reforestation efforts.
For a guy who grew up in the woods and focuses on environmental history for a living (when I’m not writing for you guys), this was such a great conversation that shed a lot of light on so many aspects of global forest management and how we can plan ahead in the future. Find this episode on Apple and Spotify below and wherever you listen.
About our guest:
Dr. Lauren Oakes makes environmental science accessible to non-scientists. She writes about forests, climate, and our complex relationships with nature. Her craft blends science communications and reporting through narrative.
She earned her Ph.D. from the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program for Environment and Resources at Stanford University. By training, she is an ecologist and land change scientist, committed to facilitating more sustainable land use practices in communities across the world. She has always been intrigued by our human footprint on the natural world and concerned about the ways environmental degradation affects the lives of people and other species.
Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Emergence Magazine, Nautilus and other media outlets. Her first book, In Search of the Canary Tree, was selected as one of Science Friday’s Best Science Books of 2018. In 2019, it won second place for the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award and was a finalist for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Communication Award. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supported research and reporting for Treekeepers, her most recent book about the global reforestation movement.
Get her book:
Amazon link: Treekeepers: The Race for a Forested Future
Hope you’re having a great day today. And do me a favor- tell me your favorite forest in the comments below.
Not a specific forrest, but more a class of forests. The redwood forests of Northern California are like a surreal moment frozen in time. Giants holding their own for 1000s of years... plus you can visualize Ewoks stealing an imperial speeder bike and zooming off into the woods. 🤓
My favorite? The Norvin Green State Forest in Ringwood, NJ - I grew up surrounded by this amazing (and, yes, tiny) forest, hiking with the Girl Scouts or exploring the Red Mine or Blue Mine trails with my 1st grade classmates (instead of the traditional trip to the Bronx Zoo because ... I don't exactly know why, except for the fact that my teacher was mercurial and capricious.)
The parcel was part of the bequest of the aforementioned Norvin Green, a real person and the descendant of the folks who'd owned large swaths of land in town as part of the Cooper & Hewitt Iron Company.
When I get homesick, this forest is what I'm talking about. There are plenty of spots nearby where I could go for nature, including gardens, parks, and the Forest Resource Center, but there's something about the Ramapo Mountains that won't let go, so that's where I need to be.