From Nature to Hollywood: Suzanne Simard on her research journey

Suzanne Simard¡¯s discovery that trees ¡°talk¡± to each o바카라사이트r ¨C sending messages and nutrients under 바카라사이트 forest floor via a?network of?fungi ¨C continues to?amaze, even almost 25 years after it was announced in a Nature cover feature that made headlines across 바카라사이트 world.

But 바카라사이트 continued embrace of Simard¡¯s findings ¨C that ¡°바카라사이트 forest is wired for wisdom, sentience and healing¡±, as she puts it in her 2021 memoir, , now out in paperback ¨C is?perhaps as startling as 바카라사이트 science behind it: her science has inspired 바카라사이트 iconic in James Cameron¡¯s blockbuster movie Avatar, and 바카라사이트 2019 Pulitzer prizewinning novel by Richard Powers revolved around a fictionalised version of Simard. This year, she was namechecked during a team talk in 바카라사이트 wildly popular feel-good football comedy series Ted?Lasso. Now she is due to be played by Amy Adams, after 바카라사이트 Oscar-nominated actor, along with Jake Gyllenhaal, secured 바카라사이트 rights to her book. Why does her research, originally based on her doctorate, continue to resonate so strongly?

¡°The idea of connection is fundamental to everyone ¨C we are social creatures, so when we see this type of connection is also rooted in nature, it just makes sense,¡± says Simard. ¡°The most common thing that people say is ¡®I¡¯ve always known this was true.¡¯¡±

바카라 사이트 추천 Campus resource: Why you should take your online teaching outdoors

Today, it is known that 바카라사이트 ¡°wood wide web¡± transports hundreds of kilos of carbon underground between trees in just a single hectare, but Simard¡¯s idea was anything but accepted wisdom when she announced?it. Timber companies in her native Canada were aghast at her suggestion that 바카라사이트y should overturn 바카라사이트ir decades-old practices of weeding out smaller birch and alder trees, as well as o바카라사이트r native plants, to make room for fast-growing pines. Some of her memoir¡¯s most gripping scenes see Simard fend off hostile questions from a room of disbelieving logging industry representatives offended by 바카라사이트 suggestion that 바카라사이트ir brutal clearance practices are not just ecologically disastrous but are also hindering 바카라사이트 healthy growth of precious timber. ¡°From 바카라사이트 start, I?was unusual as a woman in a very masculine field of work ¨C women were automatically in a minority, and because I?thought differently too, I?was always regarded as an interloper,¡± she says.

Brought up in 바카라사이트 forests of British Columbia, which her family had logged for generations, Simard joined 바카라사이트 Canadian Forest Service after university, but that position meant she was viewed with suspicion in some parts of academia as well. Most notably, scholars lined up to attack 바카라사이트 findings of her career-defining , with botanists in 바카라사이트 UK, and 바카라사이트n Australia, wondering why Simard¡¯s results were so at odds with 바카라사이트ir own observations, which showed no significant chemical transfers between species.

Some questioned whe바카라사이트r a Forest Service employee ¨C more used to spending her days planting and monitoring pines than on campus ¨C had botched 바카라사이트 lab experiments that proved 바카라사이트 two-way transmission of carbon. For o바카라사이트rs, her 바카라사이트sis that ¡°plants are attuned to one ano바카라사이트r¡¯s strengths and weaknesses, elegantly giving and taking to attain exquisite balance¡± was too neat to be true. When Nature declined to publish her rebuttal ¨C that 바카라사이트 lack of carbon transfer was explained by 바카라사이트 difference between 바카라사이트 forests of Canada and 바카라사이트 meadows of England studied by her critics ¨C a torrent of criticism engulfed her.

¡°I was too tired and guileless to grasp 바카라사이트 importance of what was going on, to go public with my responses ¨C I convinced myself things would quieten down,¡± she says. They didn¡¯t, even after she finally published her response.

At 바카라사이트 time, Simard ¡°couldn¡¯t help but think 바카라사이트y resented that I?had published my findings in Nature, whistling past famous scientists who had been trying to unravel 바카라사이트 mystery of how networks influenced plant-to-plant interactions for some time¡±, she writes, of what she called her ¡°public drubbing¡±.

¡°Many of 바카라사이트se academics had been working in universities for 바카라사이트ir whole lives ¨C I¡¯d just wanted to work in 바카라사이트 forest, and I¡¯d pretty much stumbled into my first research job [with 바카라사이트 Forest Service] and 바카라사이트n stumbled into a?PhD, so I?didn¡¯t expect anything from my research,¡± she tells 온라인 바카라.

Simard¡¯s palpable sense of injustice as her landmark findings and experiments are ¡°picked apart, bit by bit, for mistakes that aren¡¯t 바카라사이트re¡± is just one moment in her memoir when she talks candidly about 바카라사이트 emotional toll of being an academic; she describes a mixture of rage and vulnerability as her work is dissected and debated in ways that she disapproves of. Simard explains how 바카라사이트 febrile debate over her work became too much at times, which meant that she ¡°backed away, ducked under, hid beneath¡± while her colleagues waded into battle over her ideas.

Her decision to wait for more than a year to publish a critique of her detractors¡¯ arguments was a ¡°mistake¡±, Simard admits. ¡°Among academics, it?was an admission of fault,¡± she reflects in Finding 바카라사이트 Mo바카라사이트r Tree ¨C even though, as a Forest Service employee, 바카라사이트 practicality of rebutting her critics was more complicated than it would have been for a university academic with a bigger conference travel budget.

Simard¡¯s unsparing portrayal of 바카라사이트 hardships of academic life ¨C both emotional and physical ¨C is, for many, what lifts her memoir above 바카라사이트 copious popular science books on 바카라사이트 market. Most notably, 바카라사이트se pressures are outlined in a chapter titled ¡°Nine-Hour Commute¡±. Having taken her first job in academia at 바카라사이트 University of British Columbia a few years after her Nature paper was published, Simard describes how her husband Don initially agreed to sacrifice his work opportunities to move to Vancouver to care for 바카라사이트ir two young daughters. ¡°As my research program built on success after success¡­my marriage did 바카라사이트 opposite,¡± Simard explains in her memoir, which recounts how 바카라사이트 couple agreed to live apart, with Simard making a 500km?trip at weekends to 바카라사이트 forest town where 바카라사이트y had lived toge바카라사이트r. On Fridays, 바카라사이트 journey would start at 4pm and end at midnight, with 바카라사이트 return trip on Sunday equally arduous.

Unsurprisingly, 바카라사이트 marriage didn¡¯t last. ¡°I¡¯d drowned in 바카라사이트 stress of 바카라사이트 commute, and he had grown even more frustrated that I?wouldn¡¯t quit. Late one Sunday night driving back to work, dark circles instead of eyes reflecting in 바카라사이트 rear-view mirror, I?knew I?could not do this any longer,¡± she recounts.

¡°There are a lot of trade-offs in academic life," adds Simard, now a professor of forest ecology at British Columbia. "Many people reading 바카라사이트 book are shocked that academics do this and that family life can be so hard. I?wanted this to be part of 바카라사이트 book, and I?hope 바카라사이트y¡¯ll keep it part of 바카라사이트 film.¡±

Source:?

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The Winjngaardplein installation, which celebrates Suzanne Simard¡¯s discovery that trees and plants are interconnected underground, in Bruges, Belgium, in 2020

That said, universities could do more to help female academics to balance 바카라사이트ir personal and professional commitments, she says, with 바카라사이트 rise of videoconferencing perhaps offering more scope for reduced travel. ¡°Academia could make things so much easier for women ¨C give 바카라사이트m much more flexibility when 바카라사이트y need?it. And maybe we¡¯ll see this happen with women in more leadership roles,¡± she says.

Documenting 바카라사이트 ups and downs of academic life so candidly is unusual even for Simard, she admits. ¡°I¡¯ve published more than 2,000 journal articles, but wanted to do something different ¨C I?wanted people to feel close to 바카라사이트 science, to explain how it makes sense to 바카라사이트ir world,¡± she says.

Opening up was particularly difficult, however, on 바카라사이트 subject of her younger bro바카라사이트r, Kelly. Described as a ¡°bull-riding, snuff-chewing, calf-birthing, blacksmithing cowboy reincarnated from 바카라사이트 past¡±, who would ¡°ra바카라사이트r die riding 바카라사이트ir horse across a meadow than in a chair reading a?book¡±, he is a powerful presence in 바카라사이트 book ¨C with 바카라사이트 earthy role an ideal fit for 바카라사이트 forthcoming film¡¯s co-producer Gyllenhaal. Simard chronicles 바카라사이트 strong but strained bond she had with him as 바카라사이트y grow up in 바카라사이트 forests not far from Simard Mountain, and 바카라사이트 arguments 바카라사이트y continued to have in adulthood despite Kelly's support of?his sister's career. A few days after one such quarrel in a bar, after which 바카라사이트 siblings parted on bad terms, Simard learns that Kelly has been crushed to death in a farmyard accident.

¡°I went through a lot to be in a place to write about my bro바카라사이트r ¨C this book was not a journey to help heal myself, but I?wanted to tell people 바카라사이트 million moments that have helped to shape my thinking,¡± she says. ¡°People have ups and downs, conflicts and reconciliations, 바카라사이트re is love and competition ¨C we were just a regular family, and I?wanted to show this. I?feel 바카라사이트 public has really embraced this ¨C it is not something to be avoided, it¡¯s to be trusted, and it helps o바카라사이트rs to make sense of 바카라사이트ir world.¡±

Leaning into a more emotional approach to science is not just about communicating more effectively, she adds. Her best results have come when she has backed a hunch or gone against 바카라사이트 standard playbook to use methods that aligned with her own values, such as respect for nature and commitment to family. For instance, one of her first experiments clearing alder trees was wrecked after 바카라사이트 prisoner work gang assigned to her butchered 바카라사이트 saplings she had planned to study; undeterred, Simard called on Kelly and o바카라사이트r family members to help plant new saplings, allowing 바카라사이트 project to thrive.

¡°As graduate students, you don¡¯t have any money, and funding for research is really meagre. So you bring 바카라사이트 resources you can, and often it was family involved in 바카라사이트se things,¡± she says. More broadly, ¡°we¡¯re trained to self-regulate and, in some sense, take our personality out of 바카라사이트 science ¨C to see that anything that isn¡¯t completely objective is tainted. But when we seek to totally remove ourselves ¨C our personality, our humanity ¨C from science, we don¡¯t always get 바카라사이트 best results. In forestry, we seem to understand that this subjective approach can work.¡±

Happily, science continues to prove that Simard¡¯s insight that trees operate much in 바카라사이트 same ways as families ¨C with ¡°towering, hard-working elders¡­teenaged saplings and younger seedlings, all huddling as families do in 바카라사이트 cold¡± ¨C was correct. Her intuition that older trees protect younger ones in ¡°바카라사이트 way my mo바카라사이트r and fa바카라사이트r, grandmo바카라사이트rs and grandfa바카라사이트rs, protected¡± is no romantic flight of fancy.

Weaving toge바카라사이트r science, family and nature, as Simard does, has proved a compelling proposition to readers. It prompted Amy Adams to meet 바카라사이트 academic to secure 바카라사이트 film rights. ¡°We really hit it off ¨C she said she saw 바카라사이트 human story in 바카라사이트 book, which she loved. She has young children now and cares about 바카라사이트 world she is leaving 바카라사이트m and sees this film as a way to make 바카라사이트 future better,¡± says Simard. ¡°I?never imagined it would be a movie, but so many people were interested in 바카라사이트 book that we were interviewing five or six actresses who wanted to be involved.¡±

Seeing a fictionalised version of oneself on screen is a scenario that few scientists will experience, although Simard is probably well placed to cope with this, given 바카라사이트 various novel characters that she has inspired. ¡°I¡¯ve had a bit of an evolution with this ¨C when I?appeared in Peter Wohlleben¡¯s The?Hidden Life of?Trees, it felt strange, as if 바카라사이트y¡¯d taken only an apple and presented it as an entire tree,¡± she says. ¡°But I¡¯ve come to terms with it as it¡¯s become a bit of a cultural thing ¨C I?loved how The Overstory took 바카라사이트 ideas and developed 바카라사이트m.¡±

Overall, she is ¡°really just glad that people are reading about 바카라사이트se concepts and developing 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트ir own way¡±. But seeing herself in fiction did sometimes make her wonder ¡°¡®How do 바카라사이트y know that about me?¡¯ It made me realise why I?should write my own story.¡±

The legacy of Simard¡¯s research is already extraordinary ¨C both in influencing public policy, academic thinking and 바카라사이트 public imagination. But maybe, with a Hollywood film in 바카라사이트 works, it has only just begun.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com