Project Lead | Mother Tree Project and Program

Suzanne Simard, Ph.D., is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and leads the Mother Tree Project and Program. Her research—showing that forests are cooperative, connected networks—has revolutionized forest ecology. Her TED Talk has reached millions, and her bestselling book Finding the Mother Tree continues to capture global interest. Named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2024, she champions regenerative forestry rooted in Indigenous knowledge.

Bestselling Author and NY Times Magazine Writer

Ferris Jabr, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, is the author of the bestselling Becoming Earth, which reviewers have described as an “infectiously poetic” “masterwork” that “earns its place alongside the best of today’s essential popular science books.” Ferris has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and Scientific American and has received fellowships and grants from Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, the Pulitzer Center, and the Whiting Foundation. His work has been anthologized in four editions of The Best American Science and Nature Writing series.

Associate Professor | University of British Columbia Okanagan

Jeannette Armstrong, (lax̌lax̌tkʷ), Ph.D., of syilx Okanagan ancestry, is a fluent speaker, language teacher and knowledge keeper of Syilx Okanagan; a professor at UBC Okanagan; and Coordinator of that university’s Interior Salishan Languages programs. A recipient of the Eco Trust USA Buffett Award in Indigenous Leadership, Jeannette serves on Canada’s Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and is a lifetime fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an officer of the Order of Canada.

Bestselling Author and NY Times Magazine Writer

Ferris Jabr, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, is the author of the bestselling Becoming Earth, which reviewers have described as an “infectiously poetic” “masterwork” that “earns its place alongside the best of today’s essential popular science books.” Ferris has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and Scientific American and has received fellowships and grants from Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, the Pulitzer Center, and the Whiting Foundation. His work has been anthologized in four editions of The Best American Science and Nature Writing series.

Project Lead | Mother Tree Project and Program

Suzanne Simard, Ph.D., is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and leads the Mother Tree Project and Program. Her research—showing that forests are cooperative, connected networks—has revolutionized forest ecology. Her TED Talk has reached millions, and her bestselling book Finding the Mother Tree continues to capture global interest. Named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2024, she champions regenerative forestry rooted in Indigenous knowledge.

Professor | University of San Francisco

Kimberly Carfore, Ph.D., a professor in both the Environmental Studies and Theology and Religious Studies departments at the University of San Francisco, is the co-chair of the Religion and Ecology unit at the American Academy of Religion. She has published numerous articles on the topics of ecopsychology, ecofeminism, and nature immersion and wilderness experiences. Also a wilderness guide for universities and her nonprofit Wild Women, she hosts the podcast Return to the Fire with Wild Women.

Primatologist, Botanist, Social Anthropologist, and Conservation Activist

Elodie Freymann, Ph.D., a primatologist, botanist, social anthropologist, filmmaker, scientific illustrator, and conservation activist, recently attracted global attention with her groundbreaking research on how wild chimpanzees in Uganda's Budongo Forest self-medicate with medicinal plants and how that use overlaps with local traditional healers’ pharmacopeias. She is now following up that research with the first systematic study of non-human self-medication in the Peruvian Amazon. Much of Elodie’s work blends the worlds of science and art to document how people interact and co-exist with the flora and fauna around them and how anthropogenic disturbances are disrupting these symbiotic relationships. She has received several awards for her work and is a Fellow at both The Explorers Club and The Linnean Society.

Musician and Composer

Garth Stevenson, a highly accomplished double bassist and composer especially known for creating music in direct communion with the natural world, traveled to Antarctica with the legendary biologist Dr. Roger Payne in 2010 to study whale communication and was able to imitate those calls on his double bass, attracting a dozen sei whales to their icebreaker. He has continued that work, most recently during a 2025 trip to Baja, Mexico to play for humpback whales, an extraordinary episode that was captured on film by National Geographic director Andy Mann.

Professor | UC Berkeley

Gül Dölen, Ph.D., is a Professor and the Bob & Renee Parsons Endowed Chair in the Department of Neuroscience, and Department of Psychology, the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. Dr Dölen, who has won many prestigious awards for her teaching and research, also maintains an Adjunct Professorship in Neuroscience and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Senior Producer | Bioneers

J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Senior Producer, affiliated with Bioneers since 1990, is a Brooklyn, NYC-based consultant, conference producer, copy-editor and writer. A former Program Director at the New York Open Center and a senior review team member for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge from 2010 to 2017, he has authored or edited several books, including Political Ecosystems, Delusions of Normality, Visionary Plant Consciousness, and, most recently, Animal Encounters.

Primatologist, Botanist, Social Anthropologist, and Conservation Activist

Elodie Freymann, Ph.D., a primatologist, botanist, social anthropologist, filmmaker, scientific illustrator, and conservation activist, recently attracted global attention with her groundbreaking research on how wild chimpanzees in Uganda's Budongo Forest self-medicate with medicinal plants and how that use overlaps with local traditional healers’ pharmacopeias. She is now following up that research with the first systematic study of non-human self-medication in the Peruvian Amazon. Much of Elodie’s work blends the worlds of science and art to document how people interact and co-exist with the flora and fauna around them and how anthropogenic disturbances are disrupting these symbiotic relationships. She has received several awards for her work and is a Fellow at both The Explorers Club and The Linnean Society.

Distinguished Professor of Psychology | UC Berkeley

Dacher Keltner, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley, is the host of the Science of Happiness Podcast and the author of many articles and books, including: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life.

Bestselling Author and Journalist

Michael Pollan is a writer, teacher and activist. His most recent book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, was published earlier this year. He is the author of nine previous books, including: This is Your Mind on Plants, How to Change Your Mind, Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire, all bestsellers. Pollan has taught writing at Harvard and UC Berkeley and has been a Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellow. In 2010 Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

California Indian Artist

Leah Mata Fragua is a California Indian artist whose work has been exhibited at the UCLA Fowler and the Autry museums and is held in major museum collections. She delves in her art into environmental degradation, coastal stewardship and cultural continuity, predominantly using handmade paper and sculptural installation. Grounded in her coastal homelands, her practice centers “kin-centric” relationships between land, water, and community. Leah also serves as a Traditional Ecological Knowledge representative on the Chumash Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, contributing to marine conservation efforts rooted in Indigenous science.

Jess Rouse, of Illmawi/Pit River Nation, Wintu, Miwok and Hupa ancestry, is, among other things: the elected Cultural Representative of her band, the youngest Cultural Bearer of her tribe, a traditional ceremonial dancer, basket-maker, bear-grass weaver, sweat-lodge leader, bird whisperer, and mother of three.

Executive Director | Bioneers

Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Executive Director and Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program, previously served her Mojave-based tribe in several capacities, including as: first Executive Director at the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, a member of the tribal council, and Chair of the Chemehuevi Education Board and Chemeuevi Headstart Policy Council. Cara is also a highly accomplished photographer/artist.

Portraiture Artist

Brittany Burrows is a self-taught portraiture artist of Nomlaki/Wintun and Pomo descent whose work primarily explores the art of hyper-realism through pencil, though she enjoys experimenting with a variety of creative mediums. Driven by a deep connection to her heritage, Brittany seeks to bring faces to life in vivid detail, understanding that her artistic talent carries a responsibility to use it in a way that uplifts and honors her community.

Bestselling Author and Journalist

Michael Pollan is a writer, teacher and activist. His most recent book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, was published earlier this year. He is the author of nine previous books, including: This is Your Mind on Plants, How to Change Your Mind, Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire, all bestsellers. Pollan has taught writing at Harvard and UC Berkeley and has been a Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellow. In 2010 Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Distinguished Professor of Psychology | UC Berkeley

Dacher Keltner, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley, is the host of the Science of Happiness Podcast and the author of many articles and books, including: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life.