David Haskell
Author David Haskell will speak about his new book, “The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors,” in Oak Ridge tonight (Tuesday, April 24).
Haskell, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for an earlier book, will be at the University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday. The Arboretum is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.
The event is co-sponsored by Strata-G LLC, the UT Arboretum Society, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, an Oak Ridge-based environmental advocacy organization that offers informative programs and news about environmental issues affecting Tennesseans, a press release said.
Haskell, a British-born American biologist, is an author and professor of biology at Sewanee: The University of the South. Copies of his new book and “The Forest Unseen” will be available for sale at the event from Union Avenue Books, the press release said. He will be signing books purchased at the event before and after his talk.
Discussing how the lives of people and trees are intertwined, Haskell will tell how he repeatedly visited a dozen trees over several years, the press release said.
“He explored connections with people, microbes, fungi, and other plans and animals,” the release said. “These trees are in cities (from New York to Jerusalem), forests (Amazonian, North American, and boreal), and areas on the front lines of environmental change (eroding coastlines, burned mountainsides, and war zones). In each place, he shows how human history, ecology, and well-being are intimately intertwined with the lives of trees. In a world beset by barriers, he reminds us that life’s substance and beauty emerge from relationship and independence.”
Haskell’s work integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of nature. His first book, “The Forest Unseen,” received numerous honors, including the National Academies Communications Award for Best Book Award for 2013. The book was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction. He is a Guggenheim Fellow. His classes at the University of the South have received national attention for combining action in the community with contemplative practice, the press release said.
Celebrating 53 years in 2018, this program is one of many activities that will be offered this year by the UT Arboretum Society. The program is cosponsored by the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center.
The Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014, is one of 10 outdoor laboratories located throughout the state as part of the UT AgResearch system. AgResearch is a division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. The Institute of Agriculture also provides instruction, research and public service through the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, and UT Extension offices, with locations in every county in the state.
David Haskell Ecuador
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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