A Tree’s View of History: A Conversation with Lacy M. Johnson
The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment, Orion Magazine, and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology present a conversation with Lacy M. Johnson on American history and the longleaf pine. Building off her recent essay on the longleaf pine’s integral role in the American slave trade, Johnson will discuss the ways in which trees bear witness to the evolution of culture and what they may be able to tell us about ourselves now. She will also discuss how her research into coastal flooding has expanded her understanding of how rising water levels affect trees, and what people can do to protect the landscapes they love. In conversation with her will be Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author of Journey of the Universe and co-founder of Yale’s Forum on Religion and Ecology.
We welcome you to watch the recording.
Lacy M. Johnson’s recent essay in Orion Magazine is The Brutal Legacy of the Longleaf Pine.
Speaker
Lacy M. Johnson is the author of several books, including the essay collection The Reckonings, and is coeditor of More City than Water: A Houston Flood Atlas. She teaches at Rice University and is the founding director of the Houston Flood Museum.
Moderator
Mary Evelyn Tucker teaches at the Yale School of the Environment and the Yale Divinity School and co-directs the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology with John Grim. Together they have written Ecology and Religion and created six online classes on Coursera titled, Religions and Ecology: Restoring the Earth Community.
This event is hosted by Orion Magazine, The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment, Yale Forest Forum, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and Yale Environmental Humanities. Please contact yff@yale.edu with any questions.
Photo (top left): Mature longleaf pine stand in the Carolina Sandhills. Photo by Jack Culpepper, USFWS.