The Power of Trees
NLC's The Power of Trees series, which ran from September 29 to November 17, 2023, provided a wide range of experiences:
Book discussion on The Overstory by Richard Powers
Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, The Overstory is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of the natural world. Award-winning author, Executive Director of the Writers’ Trust, and Port Hope resident Charles Foran moderated this discussion.
Outing to Alderville: Floral and faunal - Characteristics of the Black Oak Savanna as a Fire Mediated Ecotone
Guide and speaker Rick Beaver emphasized the role of Indigenous communities in the establishment, maintenance and uses of prairies and savannas.
Presentation: The Arbornaut - Adventures Exploring the 8th continent in the treetops above us.
Known the world over as “Canopy Meg,” Dr. Margaret Lowman shared her misadventures as a woman in field biology, and how she developed the toolkit for exploring that 95% of trees out of reach overhead. Meg has worked in over 40 countries for over 40 years, discovering new species and educating a diverse public about the importance of conserving big trees, critical for the health of our planet.
Presentation: Mtigoog: inawemaaganag miinwaa gekinoo’amaagedag (Trees: Our relatives and Teachers
Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall explained that trees are our generous older relatives. Collectively, they hold up the sky while providing sustenance, security, and shelter to us – spirits in human-form – and all of Creation. These beings demonstrate living within the cycle of the seasons and teach us how to live mino bemaadiziiwin - in a good way. As elder sisters and brothers, trees have much to teach.
Outing to the Ganaraska Forest Centre - Ensuring a Future with Forests
Glenn McLeod discussed the significance of the Ganaraska Forest and Gus Saurer leads a walk through part of the forest. (limited to 35 people)
Presentation: Deforestation in 19th century Northumberland: from trees to treaties
Phil Abbott examined how the destruction of the old growth forests by early settlers in what is now Northumberland County upended ecological balance and severely impacted Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg relationship with their territory.
Book discussion on The Man who Made Things Out of Trees by Robert Penn
A discussion on this exuberant, non-fiction account of nature, human ingenuity, and the pleasure of making things by hand was moderated by Bob Hambly, designer, author, photographer and blogger.
Presentation: Canadian Forests Today: Fire, Carbon & Climate
Juha Metsaranta explored how Canada’s extensive forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, acting as a carbon sink as they grow but as a source when they decay or burn. Forest fires play an increasingly critical role in Canada’s carbon balance.
Presentation: The Shifting Forest Management Paradigm
Juha Metsaranta and Jeremy Williams discussed the Canadian forest management paradigm and the forces pressuring it, as well as how forest management can evolve to better address the current challenges.
Presentation: The Tree as a Symbol: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge
Data visualization expert Manuel Lima examined the more than eight hundred year history of the tree diagram, from its roots in the illuminated manuscripts of medieval monasteries to its current resurgence as an elegant means of visualization.
Presentation: Who Gets the Trees: How Race Shapes Access to Urban Nature
Jacqueline Scott and Ambika Tenneti discussed how race affects access and diversity in the urban forest, specifically in the GTA including the Green Belt. Scott’s research focuses on the wilderness in the Black imagination, while Tenneti examines community engagement in the urban forest.
Presentation: Out of the woods: identity, material life and the natural inclinations of design in Canada
Michael Prokopow is an OCADU-based cultural historian and curator whose areas of expertise include material culture, aesthetics, and design history. He examined how settler colonialism and the “rapacious extraction industry” have impacted Canada’s national identity, culture and economy.
Concert: In Search of Lost Trees
Northumberland musician, emcee, adventurer, writer and scholar David Newland hosted this special celebration of trees in words and music.