TreeNotes: A Year in the Company of Trees

From an esteemed National Geographic explorer and forest ecologist, a charming collection of thought-provoking essays exploring the meaning of trees in our lives.

Telephone poles, baseball bats, railroad ties. Peaches, nutmeg, and vanilla. The more you look, the more you realize: Our world depends on products made from trees. In this sweet book, forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni takes you on a worldwide journey to learn more about trees—their variety, their usefulness, their beauty, and their importance, not only to human culture, but to the entire natural world. 

Inspired by Nadkarni’s popular podcast broadcast by Utah’s public radio station KUER, TreeNotes comprises more than 45 brief essays, organized by season. Chapters roam from big questions to the particular; for instance:

• How Many Kinds of Trees Are There?
• Trees and Lightning
• Tree Pollen
• The Baobab Tree
• Mistletoe
• Conductors’ Batons

Learn what wood Ringo's favorite drumsticks are made of, and how the seeds of the cacao tree become delectable chocolate. Lovely illustrations make every turn of the page a happy moment in this arboreal adventure. 

For lovers of nature, forest bathers, the conservation-minded, and anyone who wants to spend a few minutes meditating on the meaning of trees in our world, this is the book.

Nalini Nadkarni is an ecologist, avid science communicator, and, as a National Geographic Explorer at Large, an ambassador who represents science and nature awareness throughout the world. She has pioneered novel access techniques to study the plants, animals, and microbes that live in the tropical and temperate rainforest treetops in Costa Rica and Washington State, galvanizing biologists to study what has been called the “last biotic frontier.” A professor at the University of Utah, she has published more than 150 journal articles and three books. She has appeared in public media such as Science Friday; Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me; RadioLab, and Playboy Magazine, and is the subject of the PBS documentary “From Earth to Sky.” Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the AAAS Award for Public Engagement, the National Science Foundation Award for Public Service, the Wilson Award for the Advancement of Social Justice, the Archie Carr Medal for Conservation and the Rachel Carson Award for Conservation. She divides her time between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Monteverde, Costa Rica.