Tom Wessels is a national treasure. In years to come I believe he will be remembered among the most important environmental and civil leaders of our generation. It's interesting that for someone for whom evolution, natural selection, and succession became the (early) hallmarks of his professional life it all began at an early age when he would escape to a nearby 70 acre forest for his own personal peace and evolved from an almost therapeutic and innate understanding of the natural world to a deeper understanding of our social and civic relationships.
As a generalist, with a deep understanding of natural ecosystems, ranging from biological -both plant and animal - to geologic, Tom calls himself a terrestrial ecologist.
Today he is professor emeritus at Antioch University New England where he founded the master’s degree program in Conservation Biology. With interests in forest, desert, arctic, and alpine ecosystems, plus geomorphology, evolutionary ecology, complex systems science, and the interface of landscape , culture, and economy.
I caught up with Tom in order to speak with him about some of our mutual interests and present this episode of The Radical Centrist to you as both an introduction to Tom for those who don't know him as well as a call to arms for reimagining our story as humans and communities.