What does it mean to love a forest? In this talk, Ethan Tapper, a forester, author and content creator from Vermont, will draw from his work as a forester and his bestselling book -- How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World -- to discuss what it means to care for forests and other ecosystems at this moment in time. How do we respond to the harmful legacies of the past? How do we use our species' incredible power to heal rather than to harm? How do we reach towards a better future? In a time in which many believe that “protecting” ecosystems means protecting them from ourselves, Ethan argues that humans must take action to help ecosystems heal and to move into a more abundant future. Ethan’s message is at once compassionate and pragmatic, clear-eyed and hopeful, sobering and inspiring – a powerful new idea for how we can build a world that works for all of its ecosystems and all of its people.

Ethan Tapper is a forester, birder, naturalist and digital creator, and the author of How to Love a Forest. He has been recognized as a thought-leader and a disruptor in the forestry and conservation community of the northeastern United States and beyond, winning multiple regional and national awards for his work. Ethan runs a consulting forestry business–Bear Island Forestry–is a regular contributor to Northern Woodlands magazine and a variety of other publications, and is a digital creator with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. In his personal life, Ethan works, writes, hunts and birds at Bear Island–his 175-acre working forest, homestead, orchard and sugarbush–works toward a graduate degree at the University of Vermont, and plays in his 10-piece punk band, The Bubs.

The Be Informed Lecture Series is brought to you in partnership between Mohican Farm and OCCA. This program will take place at the Fenimore Art Museum’s auditorium on Thursday, March 13 at 7 pm. Please use the form below to sign up.