Andie Thrams

How & Why ForestSong Shares Science

• Art can provide scientific information in an alternate way, with a potential to broaden the audience for contemporary science and deepen appreciation for natural systems.

• Scientists and artists are careful observers, and it is intriguing to compare what we each notice about forests.

• Current trends discrediting science and scientists are alarming—sharing science and art together may provide another pathway towards understanding climate change and habitat loss.

• Science and art can elicit wonder, inspire questions, and evoke the interconnectedness of ecosystems—all important experiences to share.

• Painting in forests over the decades is a form of bearing witness to changes in western forests; understanding how science explains these changes is helpful to me and to those I work with and teach.

• Each Forest Prayer Flag has an ecological concept embedded within, often reflected within its title.

• To weave contemporary science awareness into this project, I interview scientists* about climate change, tree mortality, fungal networks, catastrophic megafires, the future of Western forests, and more.

• The fear, anxiety, and uncertainty many of us grapple with can be eased by clearer understanding of how and why climate change is impacting us and our forests.

• Taking action by learning how to better prepare ourselves, our homes, and our forests for wildfire is empowering.

• Hope is kindled by the many positive solutions scientists are finding to the problems we face.

• Delight is inspired by a myriad of contemporary forest science topics including: communication networks and nutrient sharing among trees, understory plants, and fungi; Native American’s longterm effective use of prescribed burns to sustainably nurture forests; the complex languages of forest birds; and much much more.

*A Call to Scientists!

If you are a scientist, I’d love to include your information and research within the ForestSong project! It’s easy to participate. Click the Scientist’s Questionnaire button below and email your responses to ten short questions back to me. Your responses can be brief or expansive, anonymous or public, up to you. Either way, your expertise can reach a new audience, and help us expand understanding of fire and forest ecology. And… I’ll send you a gift in thanks for sharing science with us all!