Shows
treehugger podcastMy Head for a Tree with Martin GoodmanIn this special episode, we welcome author and storyteller Martin Goodman to explore the extraordinary living story of the Bishnoi people—a community in the Western Thar Desert of India who have made protecting life, in all its forms, their deepest devotion. Three centuries ago, 363 Bishnoi villagers led by Amrita Devi gave their lives to defend the sacred khejri trees from destruction, speaking the words still taught to Bishnoi children today: "My head for a tree is a cheap price to pay." But the Bishnoi are not just a story of sacrifice from the past—they are still...
2025-05-1555 min
treehugger podcastGiants on New Ground with Philip StielstraWe are joined by Philip Stielstra, founder of PropagationNation, to explore the fascinating world of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). Philip shares his inspiring journey from Seattle Tree Ambassador to becoming a leader in assisted migration, helping these ancient giants find a new future in the Pacific Northwest. We dive into: The unique traits that make coast redwoods and giant sequoias candidates for assisted migration, including their fire resistance, drought tolerance, and pest resistance. Challenges such as slow seed production, low natural regeneration, and the ecological and ethical considerations of introducing these species...
2025-01-2646 min
treehugger podcastA Natural History of Empty Lots with Christopher Browntreehugger podcast is 5 years old this month! In this episode, we sit down with Christopher Brown, author of A Natural History of Empty Lots, to uncover the stories hidden in the overlooked spaces of our cities. Christopher shares his unique perspective on urban landscapes—vacant lots, overgrown alleys, and forgotten corners—revealing the vibrant ecosystems and cultural narratives thriving within them. Drawing on his experience as a speculative fiction writer, he challenges us to rethink the value of these unintentional landscapes and their role in shaping our connection to the wider world. We discuss themes from...
2024-11-2341 min
treehugger podcastIvyland with Toby QueryThis treehugger episode meanders through Ivyland and investigates the extensive properties and uses of ivy, Hedera helix. Ivies (Araliaceae) are a diverse genus of evergreen plants native to regions spanning Europe, across central-southern Asia, and N Africa. Its botanical name is rooted in Latin; Hedera is related to its traditional medicinal uses. Known for its climbing or ground-creeping nature, ivy offers various ecological benefits such as habitat and shelter for wildlife, acts as a late-season food source for pollinators, offers berries for birds, controls soil erosion, regulates microclimates, and contributes to carbon sequestration. Additionally, it has several human benefits...
2023-10-031h 11
treehugger podcastHow We Exist With and Amongst Each Other with Renata KamakuraRenata Poulton Kamakura reminds us of the importance of nearby nature and the power in community that orbits around urban ecology. Renata is a PhD student at Duke University's Clark Lab, a NatureNet science fellow, and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Renata's current work is mostly within the realm of urban ecology. They have authored and collaborated on published research focused on the pace of tree migration and invasion in tallgrass prairies. Also, tree fecundity related size and age as well as indirect climate effects. Long story short, I also know Renata because they have some insights...
2023-01-0158 min
treehugger podcastInvasive Resistance (treehugger solo)Some species walk into our spaces, uninvited – they don't belong. They can be trees we bring from the homeland to plant, insects that show up through international trade, or fish we stock for sustenance. However, when they liberate themselves from cultivation, they are portrayed as a potential threat to the economy or even challenge our conceptions of wild nature. This is a short presentation recorded in advance of the Partners in Community Forestry Conference that came to Seattle, hosted by Arbor Day Foundation. There is a growing underflow of writing and thought surfacing that grinds ag...
2022-11-1919 min
treehugger podcastA Kids Guide to Ecological Restoration with Elise GornishDr. Elies Gornish is an early career leader in the fields of arid land restoration and weed management and has published over 60 papers. Recently, she just self-published "A Kids Guide to Ecological Restoration," what she believes is the first children's book on ecological restoration. Gornish is a Cooperative Extension Specialist in Ecological Restoration at the University of Arizona. The Gornish Lab focuses on developing practical strategies for effective restoration of dry land systems in the Southwest. She is also passionate about STEM inclusion and in 2018 become the Director of UA GALS (Girls on outdoor Adventure for Leadership and Science...
2022-08-0143 min
treehugger podcastThe Rise of Ecological Restoration with Laura J MartinLaura J. Martin is a historian and ecologist who studies how people shape the habitats of other species. She is author of Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration. One will also find articles of hers in journals such as Environmental History and Science as well as featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times. She is currently an environmental studies professor at Williams College and now with the publication of Wild by Design in the rearview mirror, Laura is not digging into a global history of hormonal herbicides. Laura b...
2022-07-1241 min
treehugger podcastPlunging Puget Sound with Renate RainMy guest on this show is mother and grandmother, Renate Rain. She is the convener and healer behind the Puget Sound Plungers and certified Deliberate Cold Exposure guide. Renate described herself as just a person looking for relief from chronic pain problem when she slipped into the cool waters of Puget Sound. Alleviating pain came along with an ever-growing community she didn't even know she needed. What is Puget Sound and how cool is it? Puget Sound is a "sound" of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. The...
2022-06-2353 min
treehugger podcastRethinking Invasive with Jenny Lioutreehugger has bounced from Julia Plevin's offer "what message might invasive species have to share for you" to the Just Language invitation to pay more respect and humility to them. Now Jenny Liou leads us through a critical rethinking of invasive species. This is the episode where we tell shories about identity/politics, our entanglement with weeds, the invasive vs. native ideology and more. Jenny Liou is an English professor at Pierce College and an avid naturalist and ecological restorationist. She likes thinking and writing about bodies – bodies of thought, the mineral body of the loess-covered plains wh...
2022-05-071h 19
treehugger podcastCuriosity about Cold with Dr. Jannine KrauseTake a break from the world heating up and let's discuss our curiosity about cold. Human and more than human communities rely on a stable climate and cool, clean air and waters. My guest on this show is Dr. Jannine Krause. Dr. Krause is a naturopathic doctor, acupuncturist & host of The Health Fix Podcast. She specializes in helping clients boost their energy, metabolism & athletic performance with targeted cardiovascular training solutions. When not geeking out over health data she can be found experimenting in her kitchen or on an adventure in nature with her dogs & hubby, Joel. My...
2022-04-0645 min
Green Genes: A Mother Daughter Duo Fighting For Our PlanetEpisode 21 - Can You Be a Professional Treehugger?Have you ever wondered where the term Treehugger came from? If someone called you a treehugger would it be a compliment or an insult? Who are the treehuggers of our world? On this episode our duo is joined by fellow podcaster - Michael Yadrick who hosts the Treehugger Podcast. Hear about the amazing topics and guests Michael hosts on his own podcast that should be the go to for anyone trying to be involved in the environmental movement. But also hear about Michael’s work as a restorationist and conservation professional and how he spends everyday working to improve th...
2022-03-111h 11
treehugger podcastAll the Feelings Under the Sun with Dr. Leslie DavenportThis is the episode where we discuss our feelings of anxiety with climate change and building emotional resiliency with Dr. Leslie Davenport. She works as a climate psychology educator & consultant and lives here in Grit City. Her most recent book is called All the Feelings Under the Sun. Leslie Davenport's website www.lesliedavenport.com and Twitter Davenport, Leslie. 2021. All The Feelings Under The Sun. Magination Press. Climate Psychology Alliance North America https://www.climatepsychology.us Sarah Jaquette Ray. (2021, March 21). Climate Anxiety Is an Overwhelmingly White Phenomenon: Is it really just code f...
2022-01-1949 min
treehugger podcastRestoration for Whom, by Whom? with Marlène EliasTreehugger podcast is celebrating two years and 10,000 downloads! Working from a foundation of feminist political ecology, Marlène Elias questions who decides the sustainability agenda and urges all of us to pay attention to the power and politics that shape the values, meanings and science driving restoration. Marlène leads gender research and gender integration at the Alliance of Biodiversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Gender Research Coordinator for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. Her research focuses on gendered dimensions of forest management an...
2021-11-2145 min
treehugger podcastRecovering Lost Species with Dolly JørgensenAbsence of species we feel belong in our lives gives rise to powerful emotions. "It's the feeling of environmental lost-ness and the potential found-ness that motivates decisions about recovering locally extinct animals," says Dr. Dolly Jørgensen, historian of the environment and technology and an environmental humanities scholar. Jørgensen's current research focuses on cultural histories of animal extinction, and in 2019 she published Recovering Lost Species in the Modern Age: Histories of Longing and Belonging (MIT Press). She is interested in how human technologies shape the world around us and how we come to understand what is "natural" and wh...
2021-08-241h 04
treehugger podcastCoppice & Pollard with Alex SlakieDisrupted by enclosure of the commons and colonialism, people have had a relationship with trees via coppice and pollard for eons. This is the show where we discuss the role moditional "modern" + "traditional" methods play in ecological restoration. The methods we talk about on this episode are known as live staking, coppicing and pollarding. My guest on this episode is Alex Slakie who is a restoration ecologist, botanist, and herbalist. He currently resides on the shared lands of the Cascades, Clackamas, Wasco, Multnomah, and Chinook peoples in Corbett, Oregon. Alex is the head of Flora Northwest LLC...
2021-07-2141 min
treehugger podcastMapping Abundance with Candace FuijikaneCandace Fujikane leads us through Kanaka Maoli cartographies that articulates Indigenous ancestral knowledges via moʻolelo (historical stories), oli (chants), and mele (songs). Engaging in the art of kilo, observing laws of the natural order is based on longtime observation and recording in relationships with the almost half a million akua. The akua are the elemental forms, who guide the people in their daily lives and embody the lands, seas, and skies. Professor Fuijikane asserts, "abundance is expressed out of Kanaka Maoli restoration projects, as practitioners assert their capacity to determine their own decolonial futures…." Candace Fujikane is...
2021-06-0353 min
treehugger podcastForest Gardens with Chelsey ArmstrongForest gardens look and feel different than the forests farther from home or what one normally encounters on the NW Coast. Professor Chelsey Armstrong and her colleagues refer to these forests as novel ecosystems that have no natural analog - composed of communities of species that result from human agency, ecosystem engineering and the introduction of wildcrafted species from nearby regions. While Western science is catching up about these ecosystems, the original and contemporary Indigenous scientists have always known these forests have existed. Professor Chelsey Armstrong is a historical ecologist and archaeologist based out of Ts'msyen Laxyuup...
2021-05-1947 min
treehugger podcastWords about Weeds with Just LanguageI fortuitously got mixed up with this group called Just Language. Christopher Widmaier, Danielle Bunch, Lisa Fink and Celeste Williams interrogate our language around invasive species. Join in the dialogue and effort to make our conservation language more inclusive and purge terms like "invasive" and "alien" that have racist, prejudiced and xenophobic implications. Clayton County Water Authority and Green Collar Collaborations make this project possible. Just Language on Green Collar Collaborations https://greencollarcollaborations.com/index.php/just-language-in-ecology-education/. The following organizations, businesses, and individuals have provided resources to make this project possible. Clayton County Water Authority
2021-04-0430 min
treehugger podcastReimagining the Elwha Restoration with Whitney MauerThink of this show when you are dismantling structures. The settler state reorganized the Elwha river physically and threatened the well-being of its original inhabitants for over a century. After the successful dam removals on the Elwha River, Whitney Mauer critically assesses the outcome of the restoration in light of ongoing challenges faced by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. While the full benefits of dam removal take a long time, Dr. Mauer contends ecological restoration is unlikely to promote cultural resurgence "unless the structural basis of ecological violence and Indigenous futurisms of resurgence, self‐determination, and sovereignty are addressed."...
2021-02-1548 min
treehugger podcastMadrones with Arbutus ARMEFound on the western edge of Turtle Island, the Pacific madrone (qʷuqʷuƛəc) is the largest and most charismatic species in the family Ericaceae. It is a broadleaf-evergreen tree that is rarely dominant in our forests, but indicative of very interesting plant communities. Join me and the Arbutus ARME (pronounced like "army") to hear about the interspecies love story we share with qʷuqʷuƛəc (Pacific madrone) from a January 28, 2021 growing skills webinar hosted by Tacoma Tree Foundation. We celebrate this sacred and iconic tree to build a shared understanding about its cultural importance. We explo...
2021-02-061h 23
treehugger podcastPractitioners Adjusting for Climate Change with Brenda CliftonWe cope with climate variability whether we acknowledge it or not in a variety of ways. On this episode, Brenda Clifton and I discuss the intentional ways practitioners are adjusting for climate change in restoration practice. This was a recording of a session I took part in at the January 19th virtual North Sound Riparian Conference. This event was hosted by the good people at the Skagit Watershed Council, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, and Skagit River System Cooperative. When I say Sound that means Puget Sound or the southern estuary of the Salish Sea, connected...
2021-01-2338 min
treehugger podcastRestoration Decade Update with Ann-Kathrin NeureutherWelcome to the Restoration Decade! Ann-Kathrin Neureuther recently joined UNEP as Communication Manager for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. She walks us through the Decade Strategy that will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The new U.N. Decade will officially launch on World Environment Day, on June 5, 2021. Ann-Kathrin's job is to communicate this gigantic restoration initiative that joins forces with the The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and U.N. Sustainable Development Goals focused on resisting climate change, protecting and improving the well-being of local populations, and preserving biodiversity. The Decade Strategy frames the pr...
2021-01-1756 min
treehugger podcastBridging Medicine Systems with Dr. Nicole RedversDr. Nicole Redvers endeavors to integrate Indigenous and culturally-appropriate medicine into Western medical practice. If healing our relationship with land is key to revitalize traditional health and wellness, could ecological restoration become a public health strategy for the future? Native Land https://native-land.ca/ Dr. Redvers is an author, mother, Indigenous health advocate and assistant professor at the University of North Dakota, Department of Family & Community Medicine & Indians into Medicine Programs. She was the first licensed practicing naturopathic doctor in North America who is Dene (a member of the Deninu K'ue First Nation Band).
2021-01-0154 min
treehugger podcastBlue Butterfly Revival with Robert Michael PyleDr. Robert Michael Pyle is a biologist and writer who has worked in conservation biology around the world. While the Xerces Blue butterfly disappeared in the early 1940s, in its honor Bob founded the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Contrary to the popular conservation cliché, extinction may not always have to be forever. In the year 2000, Bob published an article he called "Resurrection Ecology" suggesting the Xerces rise again. This proposal is not entirely fictional if we endeavor to rewild ourselves and address some important implications for ethics and justice in the process. The Native American Ethnobotany D...
2020-12-2346 min
treehugger podcastAnticipating Future Environments with Shana Lee HirschShana Lee Hirsch investigates the Columbia River Basin of the past, the present and the sociotechnical imaginaries of the River in her new book. In this episode, we discuss emerging approaches to restoration and getting in right relationship with climate change. Last summer, UW Press published Hirsch's book: Anticipating Future Environments: Climate Change, Adaptive Restoration, and the Columbia River Basin. Shana is a Research Scientist in the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering at UW. She has an interdisciplinary background in sustainability social science and water management and policy. Her work draws on participatory design methods...
2020-11-231h 06
treehugger podcastMicrobes and the Universe with Jacob Mills (1 Yr Reunion Show)A lot has happened in the past year since we first discussed microbiome rewilding with Jacob Mills. At this reunion, we chat about building our immune system, rewilding greenspaces equitably, cultural restoration, decolonizing science and restoration, and updates on Jacob's research to restore native soil microbiota to urban greenspaces and schools. Eco Restoration Network https://www.ecorestorationnetwork.com NDN Science Show https://ndnscienceshow.wordpress.com/about/ Mills, J. G., Weinstein, P., Gellie, N. J., Weyrich, L. S., Lowe, A. J., & Breed, M. F. (2017). Urban habitat restoration provides a human health benefit through microbiome...
2020-11-111h 17
treehugger podcastThe Green Amendment with Maya van RossumThink you have a right to a healthy environment? You don't. Green Amendments For the Generations, led by Maya van Rossum, has been working to establish rights of all people to clean water and air along with a stable climate in our state constitutions. Elevating the environment on par with free speech, bearing arms and voting has the potential to empower constitutional change, protect our welfare and prevent environmental racism. Maya is also the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the watershed-based advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for 25 years in its efforts to protect the health of the Delaware...
2020-10-2757 min
treehugger podcastChina Goes Green with Yifei Li and Judith ShapiroAs liberal democracies fail to address environmental problems, what solution does the Chinese model offer? China Goes Green is a new book that peers under the hood of the authoritarian state's ambitions to pursue "ecological civilization." Chinese scholars Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro join me to discuss their cautious optimism and deconstruct this unique type of developmental environmentalism. China's Massive Belt and Road Initiative Polity: https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509543113 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1509543120 The Economist Interview: https://www.economist.com/china/2020/09/12/chinas-authoritarian-approach-wont-save-the-environment China Dialogue...
2020-10-081h 09
treehugger podcastUrban Heat with Dr. Vivek ShandasThis episode delves into the intersections of climate change, community well-being, justice and restoration of our urban ecosystems. The focus is on urban heat and the challenge of heat islands. Treehugger is joined by Vivek Shandas who Professor of Climate Adaptation and Director of the Sustaining Urban Places Research Lab at Portland State University. Dr. Shandas' studies the effects of urban development patterns and processes on environmental health. By examining the assumptions about our built environment, Dr. Shandas supports communities in improving their adaptation from climate stressors, including extreme events such as urban heat, air quality, and storms. Vivek...
2020-09-281h 19
treehugger podcastSuburban Woodpeckers with John MarzluffThe Pileated woodpecker is one of the quintessential forest species where I live. Their red crest helps them stand out in a crowd and the charismatic pecking at dead trees characterizes them as "ecosystem engineers." They jumpstart a patchy mosaic of forest succession, facilitate biodiversity and are key to the recovery of some forest ecosystems. Listen in on this discussion in the suburbs of Seattle with Dr. John Marzluff. Dr. Marzluff is a James W. Ridgeway Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington. His graduate and post-doctoral research focused on the social behavior and ecology o...
2020-08-031h 03
treehugger podcastPrimer of Ecological Restoration with Karen HollEarly in 2020, UC Santa Cruz Professor Karen Holl published "Primer of Ecological Restoration" through Island Press. Karen is a season veteran of ecological restoration with her boots (and her students embedded) on the ground in Latin American and Californian ecosystems. She has created an accessible book that explains foundational concepts with care while also highlighting more advanced topics for reflection. Professor Holl has served as chair of the Environmental Studies Department at UCSC and is currently the faculty director of the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History. Karen jokes that she has been in some form o...
2020-05-1950 min
treehugger podcastTree-Planting Drones with Matthew AghaiIt is no longer science fiction. The future is now people. Can we respond quicker to disturbances and mitigate climate change by planting tough places with drones? Matthew Aghai joins me from Droneseed to demystify this ever-adaptable technology. This company is scaling up to what Matthew refers to as "terraforming-level operations using biomimicry" - package seed up with resources to survive, load it into a swarm of aircraft and bombs away – plant forests. Matthew Aghai is currently the Director of Research and Development at DroneSeed Co in Seattle. Previously his work as a consultant had sent him ar...
2020-04-271h 13
treehugger podcastResonant Restoration with Sean RoweOn this episode I want to introduce you to Sean Rowe. He is a restorationist born and raised in Humboldt County, CA. Sean has a science communication-based business called Resonant Restoration that is currently doing the Resonant Restoration Podcast with his cohost, Kyle Sipes. The podcast focuses on topics related to the world of ecological restoration and includes interviews about specific projects occurring around the world. Sean is a Botanist with SHN in northern California. His work includes ecological restoration, wetland delineations, rare plant surveys, monitoring, and stormwater compliance. He is a qualified SWPPP practitioner (QSP), qualified...
2020-04-0122 min
treehugger podcastCare for Urban Trees & Each Other with Sarah LowForests can and do play an essential role in urban life in many places - 4 bil people live in cities world! Join my conversation with Sarah Low, Executive Director of the Tacoma Tree Foundation - an organization dedicated to community-powered urban greening in the South Puget Sound of Washington State. They provide a great template for community engagement around tree planting, tree care and integration of urban greening into the fabric of our lives. They are helping to shape our urban ecosystem. Some say the Earth told us to go to our rooms and think about it...
2020-03-2439 min
treehugger podcastApplied Optimism with Brianne PalmerRestoration ecologists may be the optimists of biology. We are often hopeful and confident about the future and our work. Brianne Palmer is back to discuss hope and doubt, environmental change, community, environmental heroes and gratitude. This conversation was jumpstarted by Brianne's 2019 Opinion Article called Restoration Ecology: The Study of Applied Optimism found in the journal Restoration Ecology. Thanks to the Seattle band Dumb Thumbs for the theme music from their EP "In the Wild." You can directly support them by visiting Bandcamp. Keep up to date with treehugger podcast by following the show on I...
2020-02-1814 min
treehugger podcastSociety for Ecological Restoration with Bethanie WalderThe Society for Ecological Restoration is a global community of restoration professionals all over the world. Bethanie Walder is our Executive Director, guiding the mission to expand restoration science, practice, policy and the community. The Society claims members in 81 countries and growing! You can be rest assured that while we work on our local/regional projects, there is also a small staff and consultants and other volunteers who are also helping to move the needle on restoration science and international restoration-related initiatives. We are striving towards net restoration gain in the face of rapid environmental change. If y...
2020-02-181h 14
treehugger podcastBiocrust Ecology with Brianne PalmerBiological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a global phenomenon and have been called the "living skin of the earth" and one can find them on every single continent. Ecology PhD student Brianne Palmer joins treehugger podcast to discuss how this complex and beautiful suite of diverse organisms live in direct contact with the soil surface – yet are distinct from the soil below the crust. Brianne's research is focused on understanding how biocrusts recover after fire, how they interact with other plants, and their potential uses for dryland restoration. You can follow Brianne on her website at briannepalmer.weebly.co...
2019-12-1147 min
treehugger podcastIntro: What is a treehugger...podcast?In this first installment of the treehugger podcast, creator and host Michael Yadrick introduces the show to the world.
2019-11-1003 min