New Restoration Standards Reveal
treehugger podcast
The Society for Ecological Restoration has released the Third Edition of the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration, and this episode is less of a book review than a reflection on what these new Standards reveal about our profession. I explore how ecological restoration has evolved over the past two decades through the lenses of justice, human health and livelihoods, climate readiness, accountability, and communities of practice. I also share why I think the first four principles form the philosophical heart of the new edition, where I'm still...
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Ecosystems of The Mandalorian and Grogu
treehugger podcast
*Spoilers throughout. You've been warned. Michael went to see The Mandalorian and Grogu as a lifelong Star Wars nerd and Pedro Pascal fan. He left thinking about wetland tipping points, cryosphere feedbacks, and sacrifice zones - which, for this show, tracks. This episode tours four planets as ecological field sites: a remote ice world doing load-bearing planetary work, a deliberately degraded Hutt swamp holding medicine in its margins, a neon urban underworld where ecology persists in the cracks, and a volcanic home in slow, hopeful succession. Along the way we meet characters, like Gatori,...
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Default Prescriptions with Timothy Pape & Sam Woodrich
treehugger podcast
A couple years after our first conversation on artificial intelligence and ecological restoration, I sat back down with Timothy Pape and Sam Woodrich to ask: what’s actually happening now? Their new research looks at how mainstream AI chatbots generate restoration plans across North American ecosystems. The results are familiar; almost too familiar. Plant native species. Remove invasive plants. Repeat. A longer show title might be - Default Prescriptions: AI, Ecology, and the Stories We Repeat. In this follow-up conversation, I reconnect with Timothy Pape and Sam Woodrich to explore...
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Scapegoat with Clare Follmann
treehugger podcast
In this episode, Michael talks with environmental writer Clare Follmann about her new book Scapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong (AK Press) - and yes, we are talking about invasive species again, but this time with sharper teeth. Together they question the fantasy of eradication, unpack “plastic words” like management and health, and examine how invasive species rhetoric can distract from capitalism, climate disruption, and the systems actually reshaping our landscapes. From novel ecosystems to the ethics of killing in conservation, this conversation asks restoration...
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grove & grit restoration brief on foraging & food sovereignty
treehugger podcast
Let's explore foraging as a living, contested relationship between ecology, culture, law, and survival. Beginning with za’atar - a resilient wild thyme central to Palestinian foodways - we examine how conservation policy can criminalize cultural harvest. From there, we move briefly through international access models (UK personal-use law, Nordic everyman’s rights, regulated European mushroom harvest), and closer to home: US National Parks, Washington State Parks, Seattle, and Tacoma. We unpack how language like management, stewardship, and resource protection can obscure power, and...
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grove & grit restoration brief January 18, 2026
treehugger podcast
grove & grit launches with local restoration in Hilltop, Dublin Bay oyster recovery, UN World Restoration Flagships, and an ecological reckoning on war, climate, and accountability — plus two essential upcoming reads from Emma Marris and Clare Follmann. This episode is released during the week of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, grounding restoration work in a shared ethic of collective liberation. Local Action (Tacoma) Tacoma Tree Foundation - Green Blocks: Hilltop A neighborhood-based urban forestry program supporting residents with tree selection, permits, delivery, and...
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Forest History with Jennifer Ott
treehugger podcast
What happens when we trace the history of our forests? Not just through trees, but through people, policy, and place? In this episode, I talk with Jennifer Ott, Executive Director of , Washington’s free online encyclopedia of history. Jennifer is an environmental historian, author of Olmsted in Seattle: Creating a Park System for a Modern City, and co-author of Waterway: The Story of Seattle’s Locks and Ship Canal. She brings a deep knowledge of Seattle’s reshaped landscapes; it's filled tidelands, leveled hills, and rechanneled rivers, and a lifelong commitment to accessible public...
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Urban Evolution with Liz Carlen
treehugger podcast
In this episode, Michael talks with evolutionary biologist and urban ecologist Dr. Elizabeth Carlen about how cities - shaped by war, politics, religion, and everything in between - are evolving alongside the wildlife that calls them home. Liz is an urban evolutionary biologist whose research explores how human social structures, from redlining to sacred groves, shape the genetics, behavior, and survival of city-dwelling creatures like squirrels and pigeons. We dive into the often-overlooked ways that social histories leave their mark not just on human communities, but on the DNA of the...
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My Head for a Tree with Martin Goodman
treehugger podcast
In this special episode, we welcome author and storyteller Martin Goodman to explore the extraordinary living story of the Bishnoi people—a community in the Western Thar Desert of India who have made protecting life, in all its forms, their deepest devotion. Three centuries ago, 363 Bishnoi villagers led by Amrita Devi gave their lives to defend the sacred khejri trees from destruction, speaking the words still taught to Bishnoi children today: “My head for a tree is a cheap price to pay.” But the Bishnoi are not just a story of sacrifice from the past—they are still here, still...
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Giants on New Ground with Philip Stielstra
treehugger podcast
We are joined by Philip Stielstra, founder of, to explore the fascinating world of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). Philip shares his inspiring journey from Seattle Tree Ambassador to becoming a leader in assisted migration, helping these ancient giants find a new future in the Pacific Northwest. We dive into: The unique traits that make coast redwoods and giant sequoias candidates for assisted migration, including their fire resistance, drought tolerance, and pest resistance. Challenges such as slow seed...
info_outlineTreehugger podcast is celebrating two years and 10,000 downloads!
Working from a foundation of feminist political ecology, Marlène Elias questions who decides the sustainability agenda and urges all of us to pay attention to the power and politics that shape the values, meanings and science driving restoration. Marlène leads gender research and gender integration at the Alliance of Biodiversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Gender Research Coordinator for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. Her research focuses on gendered dimensions of forest management and restoration, forest-based livelihoods, and tree resource management.
An article by Marlène and comrades wrote in Spring 2021 caught my eye that was also the theme of a special issue in the journal Ecological Restoration called Restoration for Whom, by Whom? They work from a foundation of feminist political ecology which drills down on three pillars of power relations, historical awareness and scale integration.
Elias, M., Joshi, D., & Meinzen-Dick, R. (2021). Restoration for Whom, by Whom? A Feminist Political Ecology of Restoration. Ecological Restoration, 39(1-2), 3-15.
SER Webinar: Restoration for Whom, by Whom? Exploring the Socio-political Dimensions of Restoration
Elias, M., Kandel, M., Mansourian, S., Meinzen‐Dick, R., Crossland, M., Joshi, D., ... & Winowiecki, L. (2021). Ten people-centered rules for socially sustainable ecosystem restoration. Restoration Ecology, e13574.
Arranged roughly in order from pre-intervention, design/initiation, implementation, through the monitoring, evaluation and learning phases, the ten people-centered rules are:
- Recognize diversity and interrelations among stakeholders;
- Actively engage communities as agents of change;
- Address socio-historical contexts;
- Unpack and strengthen resource tenure for marginalized groups;
- Advance equity across its multiple dimensions and scales;
- Generate multiple benefits;
- Promote an equitable distribution of costs, risks, and benefits;
- Draw on different types of evidence and knowledge;
- Question dominant discourses; and
- Practice inclusive and holistic monitoring, evaluation and learning.
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