What other archives hold information about tree responses to climate extremes, like drought? What about human memory and Indigenous knowledge? In this final official episode of Season 2, you’ll hear from two Indigenous voices. Nikki Cooley shares about Indigenous elders as long-term monitoring networks, and Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk explains the impacts of drought on the Ute people and guidance for seeking knowledge from Tribal elders. Along the way, you’ll also hear from the scientists working to decipher what trees remember.

Status of Tribes and Climate Change (STACC) Report from the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals: https://sites.google.com/view/staccreport

Book: Native Voices Speak for the Bears Ears from Torrey House Press: https://www.torreyhouse.org/edge-of-morning

Book: Water Bodies from Torrey House Press: https://www.torreyhouse.org/water-bodies

It’s time to ask a new, but related, question about trees and memory: What do humans remember about trees? Team leader Dr. Kiona Ogle shares about her home landscape, both what she remembers and what she predicts for the future of her corner of the Southwest. Then, she shares a sampling of what the team has learned so far in their research on legacy effects. You’ll hear how climate change has hampered this team’s research on exactly that topic.

What does research on tree memory have to do with humans? In episode four, we answer this question by discussing the carbon cycle and how both trees and humans fit into it. Carbon is a key building block of both trees and humans—it’s also in our food, clothing, and energy systems, and it touches all of human society. We talk about trees’ role in humanity’s future as we rearrange Earth’s carbon, and we talk about what tree memory has to do with it all.