Suzanne Simard

 (born 1960) is a Canadian scientist who is a professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia.

Quotes

 * We’ve separated ourselves from nature so much that it’s to our own demise, right? We feel that we’re separate and superior to nature and that we can use it, that we have dominion over nature. This premise runs throughout our religion, our education systems, our economic systems. It is pervasive. And the result is that we have loss of old-growth forests. Our fisheries are collapsing. We’re in a mass extinction. I think a lot of this comes from feeling like we’re not part of nature, that we can command and control it. But we can’t.


 * “For the last 500 years, we’ve had this worldview that forests and nature are here for our taking, that we can exploit them and not give back – that is a very unhealthy and unsustainable worldview. What gives me hope is my kids, my students, the next generations. They are so creative and ingenious – they’re like the forest. The forest bounces back, it regenerates, it creates new space for itself. So do our kids. When I teach kids or hang around with my own children, I have complete faith that we are going to figure our way out of this.”
 * 2023