Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature

We are sharing an episode from our friends at Future Ecologies. Future Ecologies is a podcast exploring our eco-social relationships through stories, science, music, and soundscapes. Every episode is an invitation to see the world in a new light — weaving together narrative and interviews with expert knowledge holders. We will be back next week with an episode of the Bioneers. Here is more about the episode we are featuring:Food security, climate adaptation, and vibrant biodiversity all in one place — welcome to the ancient and diverse technologies of Sea Gardening. These widespread (but often overlooked) monumental rock features are proof positive of thriving Indigenous maricultural systems all around the Pacific Rim, since time immemorial. These spaces are not only simply stunningly beautiful spots to hang out, they're also a powerful symbol of eco-cultural restoration; of Indigenous sovereignty, self-determination, and internationalism; of relationship building; and of the kind of future that is possible as we adapt to a changing climate and rising sea levels. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do. Join us as we visit a sea garden, learn about how they work, and meet a few of the people bringing them back to life. Visit futureecologies.net/listen/fe-6-2-sea-garden for full credits, links, citations, photos, a transcript, and more.

Rebecca Moore, the visionary founder of Google Earth Outreach and Google Earth Engine, dives into the transformative power of digital mapping tools for environmental conservation. She discusses how these technologies empower communities, such as the Pater Surui tribe, to combat illegal logging and regain land rights. The conversation highlights the innovative use of Google Earth to combat climate change and protect biodiversity, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accessibility in understanding our planet's changes.

Visionary urban planners and community organizers recognize that effectively addressing the climate crisis requires drawing down carbon out of the atmosphere and sequestering it back where it belongs in natural systems. Urban forestry is a nature-based solution that simultaneously addresses the parallel crises of climate change and wealth inequality. With Brett KenCairn, Boulder city Senior Advisor and Samira Malone, Urban Forestry Program Manager at the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. 

In this engaging discussion, Indigenous champions Jeannette Armstrong, an Okanagan author and ecologist, and Rowen White, a seed keeper and farmer, explore the profound links between language and nature. They emphasize the need to revitalize Indigenous languages as essential vessels of ecological knowledge. The conversation highlights the deep cultural significance of seeds and their connection to identity, while advocating for a shift to adopt Indigenous perspectives in understanding our relationship with the Earth. Reconnecting with ancestral roots is presented as a path toward healing.

Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman, conservation enthusiasts from the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, dive into the vital role of beavers in ecosystem restoration. They discuss how these furry engineers enhance wetlands, support biodiversity, and even facilitate salmon habitats. Changing perspectives among ranchers now view beavers as allies, critical for combating climate challenges. The pair highlight grassroots movements, legislative advancements, and the cultural significance of beaver restoration efforts, emphasizing how working with nature can heal our planet.

We trek into the ancient old-growth forest where the trees reveal an ecological parable: A forest is a mightily interwoven community of diverse life that runs on symbiosis. With: Doctors Suzanne Simard and Teresa Ryan, ecologists whose work has helped reveal an elaborate tapestry of kinship, cooperation and mutual aid.This is an episode of Nature’s Genius, a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. Visit the series page to learn more.FeaturingDr. Sm’hayetsk Teresa Ryan is Gitlan, Tsm’syen. Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Science Lecturer at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry, Forest & Conservation Sciences. As a fisheries/aquatic/forest ecologist, she is currently investigating relationships between salmon and healthy forests.Dr. Suzanne Simard, Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and author of the bestselling, Finding the Mother Tree, is a highly influential, researcher on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence.ResourcesForest Wisdom, Mother Trees and the Science of Community | Bioneers PodcastSuzanne Simard – Dispatches From the Mother Trees | Bioneers 2021 KeynoteSuzanne Simard – Dealing with Backlash Against Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change | Bioneers 2024 KeynoteThe Wood Wide Web: The Intelligent Underground Mycelial Network | Bioneers interview with Suzanne SimardUnraveling the Secrets of Salmon: An Indigenous Exploration of Forest Ecology and Nature’s Intelligence | Bioneers interview with Teresa RyanTeresa Ryan: How Trees Communicate | Bioneers 2017 KeynoteDeep Dive: Intelligence in NatureEarthlings: Intelligence in Nature | Bioneers NewsletterCredits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel Produced by: Cathy Edwards Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

Nature’s Genius is a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. For all the talk about the Age of Information, what we’re really entering is the Age of Nature. As we face the reality that, as humans, we have the capacity to destroy the conditions conducive to life, avoiding this fate requires a radical change in our relationship to nature, and how we view it. Looking to nature to heal nature, and ourselves, is essential. Traditional Indigenous wisdom and modern science show us that everything is connected and that the solutions we need are present in the sentient symphony of life. We can learn from the time-tested principles, processes, and dynamics that have allowed living systems to flourish during 3.8 billion years of evolution. In this enlightening series, we visit with scientists, ecologists, Indigenous practitioners of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, community organizers, and authors reporting from the frontlines of ecological restoration. They explore the intelligence inherent in nature and show us how to model human organization on living systems.Guests featured in the series include: Jeannette Armstrong - Co-Founder, Enwokin Centre; Brock Dolman - Co-Founder and Program Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Erica Gies - Author and Journalist; Brett KenCairn - Founding Director of Center for Regenerative Solutions; Toby Kiers - Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Co-Founder of SPUN; Kate Lundquist - Water Institute Co-Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Samira Malone - Urban Forestry Program Manager, Urban Sustainability Directors Network; Teresa Ryan - Teaching and Learning Fellow, Forest and Conservation Sciences Dept., Univ. of British Columbia; Merlin Sheldrake - Biologist and Author; Suzanne Simard - Author and Prof. of Forest Ecology, Univ. of British Columbia; Rowen White - Seedkeeper/Farmer and Author from the Mohawk community of AkwesasneCredits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel Produced by Cathy Edwards Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Post Production Assistants: Monica Lopez and Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

Water makes life possible. From the tiniest bacteria to the tallest tree, every living thing relies on this irreplaceable substance. Erica Gies, author of “Water Always Wins,” explores water’s unique role in the web of life, and how we might repair and reshape our relationship with it. Rather than telling water what to do, maybe we should start by asking what it wants?This is an episode of Nature’s Genius, a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. Visit the series page to learn more.FeaturingErica Gies is an independent journalist, National Geographic Explorer, and the author of “Water Always Wins: Thriving in an age of drought and deluge.” She covers water, climate change, plants and wildlife for Scientific American, The New York Times, bioGraphic, Nature, and other publications.Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel Produced by: Cathy Edwards Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Production Assistance: Kaleb Wentzel Fisher and Monica Lopez Graphic Designer: Megan Howe ResourcesErica Gies – The Slow Water Movement: How to Thrive in an Age of Drought and Deluge | Bioneers 2024 KeynoteEmbracing Slow Water: Rediscovering the True Nature of Earth’s Lifeline | Excerpt from “Water Always Wins”Deep Dive: Intelligence in NatureEarthlings: Intelligence in Nature | Bioneers Newsletter

Imagine an underground web of mind-boggling complexity, a bustling cosmopolis beneath your feet. Quadrillions of miles of tiny threads in the soil pulsate with real-time messages, trade vital nutrients, and form life-giving symbiotic partnerships. This is the mysterious realm of fungi. Acclaimed visionary biologists Toby Kiers and Merlin Sheldrake guide us through the intricate wonders of the mycorrhizal fungal networks that make life on Earth possible.This is an episode of Nature’s Genius, a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. Visit the series page to learn more.FeaturingToby Kiers, Ph.D., is the Executive Director and Chief Scientist of SPUN (the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks) and a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at VU, Amsterdam.Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D., is a biologist and writer with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He is currently a research associate of the Vrije University Amsterdam, works with the SPUN, and sits on the advisory board of the Fungi Foundation.Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel Produced by: Cathy Edwards Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Producer: Teo Grossman Graphic Design: Megan Howe ResourcesMerlin Sheldrake – How Fungi Make our Worlds | Bioneers 2024 KeynoteMerlin Sheldrake and Toby Kiers – Mapping, Protecting and Harnessing the Mycorrhizal Networks that Sustain Life on Earth | Bioneers 2024 Panel DiscussionInterview with Merlin Sheldrake, Author of Entangled LifeDeep Dive: Intelligence in NatureEarthlings: Intelligence in Nature | Bioneers NewsletterSPUN (the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks)Fungi Foundation

Dr. Shane Gero, a visionary marine biologist, is angling to crack the code of sperm whale communication. His mind-bending research is transforming what we thought we knew about these ancient leviathans. It’s calling on us to embrace the reality that perhaps we’ve long suspected: Sperm whales are living meaningful, intelligent and complex lives whose cultures suggest that whales are people too. What can whale culture teach us, and can deep listening help us learn to coexist respectfully in kinship with these guardians of the deep?FeaturingShane Gero, Ph.D., is a Canadian whale biologist, Scientist-in-Residence at Ottawa’s Carleton University, and a National Geographic Explorer. He is the founder of The Dominica Sperm Whale Project and the Biology Lead for Project CETI. His science appears in numerous magazines, books, and television; and most recently was the basis for the Emmy Award winning series, Secrets of the Whales. Learn more at shanegero.com.Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Teo Grossman and Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Special Engineering Support: Eddie Haehl at KZYX ResourcesShane Gero – Preserving Animal Cultures: Lessons from Whale Wisdom | Bioneers 2023 KeynoteDeep Dive: Intelligence in NatureThis is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the podcast homepage to learn more.