Recommended Book: Finding the Mother Tree

Finding the Mother Tree

By Suzanne Simard

Finding the Mother Tree is a scientific memoir that explores the living intelligence of forests. Through decades of research on old-growth forests in Canada, Suzanne Simard uncovers what Western society had forgotten, and Indigenous wisdom has long understood—forests are not collections of separate trees competing for survival, they are communities.

Finding the Mother Tree is not just a story about trees, it is also a story about belonging and how we become in community. Simard shares her own life struggles—growing up in a logging family but challenging the common wisdom about trees; fighting for credibility in a male-dominated field; experiences with grief, motherhood, and illness.

Finding the Mother Tree invites us to reconsider individuality, suggesting we are never solitary beings. Like trees, we are shaped by community and hidden networks of care. Strength comes from reciprocity not dominance. Survival depends on connection not competition. Wisdom emerges from rootedness, memory, and interdependence not from youth or speed. The forest becomes both teacher and mirror—offering inspiration and hope for humanity.