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What We Learn from Trees out now in Solarpunk Magazine!

While I often lean in on darkness — climate/environmental darkness in particular, as it is one of my core disciplines — I love to leave room for hope. When I teach students about the environmental challenges we face, I focus on action. What we can do.

This story is about what we can do, where we have agency to choose.

Dr. Ren Aoki is one of my favorite characters. He’s an academic (like me), but where my primary focus is on animals, he’s dedicated to trees. Through him, I get to interrogate the joys and the challenges of academic life, imagine what might come after.

Consider the ending of this story my aspirational goal. I’m not ready to leave my beloved students yet, but perhaps someday, I’ll rest my eyes on trees.

You can read the ‘prequel’ to this story for free on The Ecological Citizen Journal. Reading the first story of the pair is not necessary, but it might add depth.

As for the paid option to read “What We Learn from Trees” (and other Solarpunk goodness), I invite you to consider this a small investment in hope.