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A review by wellworn_soles
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard
4.0
Finding the Mother Tree blends memoir with experiment to detail Suzanne Simard’s seminal research in forest ecology and tree networks. Throughout her research, she marks the ways trees are linked: the symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi that allow them to not only transfer nutrients, but information, all centered on the elder trees of the forest - the dubbed “mother trees”. It’s an absolutely jaw-dropping delve into plant intelligence, much in the vein of Wohlleben’s [b:The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World|28256439|The Hidden Life of Trees What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World|Peter Wohlleben|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464281905l/28256439._SX50_.jpg|48295241].
Much of what struck me in this was what I had not expected. Suzanne takes time to weave in her personal journeys in research. She catalogs the repeated shutdowns she experienced in male-dominated forestry spaces, in academia, and in family. It takes time for her to find her voice, to learn that playing with the guys doesn’t mean conforming to them, and I resonated deeply with her early meekness transformed into a quiet resolute sturdiness. There are parallels there with her discovery of indigenous knowledge: an understanding that the reality she is unveiling about forest makeup is very ancient knowledge, known and kept by those in tune with the land. Much like her own experiences with sexism, indigenous knowledge has historically been shunted to the margins and not taken as credible. Simard helps begin the process of bridging that gap by providing scientific evidence to bolster the wisdom of native peoples.
Routinely structuring her work in relation to the monolithic powers that she has to contend with works well. It feels often that the pervasive strength of corporate greed, academic assumption, male chauvinism and white oppression are unbeatable. It can feel like we are being yanked behind those who are convinced that all life is is taking more, having more, fighting for more. “It’s just nature,” the say. “The strong dominate the weak, the predator kills the prey, the weeds overrun the garden.” And if something is just part of the natural order, how can we refuse it?
Simard and others work is slowly destabilizing this false paradigm. Competition is an inherent part of life, but only from one vantage point. Cooperation, mutualism, symbiosis, harmony: increasingly, these are the revelations science is uncovering of the natural world, reminding us of the World Circle, the Whole made of fractured parts. Spiders sing, fish chirp and enjoy tummy rubs. Mushrooms can talk. Trees feed and teach one another, raising their own families and nurturing their neighbors of different species to uplift the whole community. The earth is rich and elastic, and full to bursting with sentience - what some may call spirit. We can learn so much from letting these truths sink in; how to structure our society and care for our neighbors - human and more-than-human.
Much of what struck me in this was what I had not expected. Suzanne takes time to weave in her personal journeys in research. She catalogs the repeated shutdowns she experienced in male-dominated forestry spaces, in academia, and in family. It takes time for her to find her voice, to learn that playing with the guys doesn’t mean conforming to them, and I resonated deeply with her early meekness transformed into a quiet resolute sturdiness. There are parallels there with her discovery of indigenous knowledge: an understanding that the reality she is unveiling about forest makeup is very ancient knowledge, known and kept by those in tune with the land. Much like her own experiences with sexism, indigenous knowledge has historically been shunted to the margins and not taken as credible. Simard helps begin the process of bridging that gap by providing scientific evidence to bolster the wisdom of native peoples.
Routinely structuring her work in relation to the monolithic powers that she has to contend with works well. It feels often that the pervasive strength of corporate greed, academic assumption, male chauvinism and white oppression are unbeatable. It can feel like we are being yanked behind those who are convinced that all life is is taking more, having more, fighting for more. “It’s just nature,” the say. “The strong dominate the weak, the predator kills the prey, the weeds overrun the garden.” And if something is just part of the natural order, how can we refuse it?
Simard and others work is slowly destabilizing this false paradigm. Competition is an inherent part of life, but only from one vantage point. Cooperation, mutualism, symbiosis, harmony: increasingly, these are the revelations science is uncovering of the natural world, reminding us of the World Circle, the Whole made of fractured parts. Spiders sing, fish chirp and enjoy tummy rubs. Mushrooms can talk. Trees feed and teach one another, raising their own families and nurturing their neighbors of different species to uplift the whole community. The earth is rich and elastic, and full to bursting with sentience - what some may call spirit. We can learn so much from letting these truths sink in; how to structure our society and care for our neighbors - human and more-than-human.