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_outlinegrove & 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 planting assistance.
🔗 https://tacomatreefoundation.org/green-blocks
January 28 Webinar - “Plants as Teachers, Messengers & Climate Partners”
A Tacoma Tree Foundation webinar with Michael Yadrick on habitat care as climate adaptation and what plants reveal about heat, water, and future conditions.
🗓 January 28, 2026 | 12–1 PM (PT)
🔗 https://tacomatreefoundation.org/calendar/plants-as-teachers
International Restoration
Dublin Bay Oyster Reef Restoration (Ireland)
The Green Ocean Foundation is restoring European flat oyster reefs in Dún Laoghaire Harbour using broodstock baskets, volunteer maintenance, and scientific monitoring with Dublin City University.
🔗 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/18/dublin-bay-oyster-reefs-restoration
UN World Restoration Flagships
UNEP and FAO recognition of large-scale restoration initiatives anchored in Indigenous and local leadership, including shellfish reef recovery in Australia under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
🔗 https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/indigenous-and-local-action-brings-back-nature-un-recognizes-three
🔗 https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/world-restoration-flagships
Harm & Repair
Environmental reporting and analysis on how war damages soil, water, air, food systems, and long-term restoration capacity, with emerging efforts to document harm for accountability and repair.
International Committee of the Red Cross — Environmental damage and armed conflict
🔗 https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/protection-natural-environment-time-armed-conflict
UNEP — Environmental risks and devastation in Gaza
🔗 https://www.unep.org/resources/report/environmental-impact-escalation-conflict-gaza-strip
Environmental Law Institute — Environmental damage in Ukraine and paths to accountability
🔗 https://www.eli.org/vibrant-environment-blog/preventing-environmental-exploitation-armed-conflict-how-ukraine
Good Reads
Emma Marris et al. — “Many Pasts, Many Futures” (forthcoming)
A future-oriented exploration of species reshuffling, conservation values, and how restoration can prevent extinctions without clinging to a single ecological past.
🔗 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/0BE558C6B4F353F4AC57E596205C3ABF
Clare Follmann — Scapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong (AK Press, forthcoming)
A sharp critique of invasive species narratives and how ecological fear stories can obscure deeper political and economic drivers of harm.
🔗 https://www.akpress.org/scapegoat.html
Music for this episode is from Grey Room "Down the Rabbit Hole" found on YouTube Audio Library.