She has spent more than two decades climbing the tall trees of Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, the Amazon, and the Pacific Northwest. In 1994 she realized that there was no central database for storing and analyzing the research she was gathering, so she invented one. This state-of-the-art repository, called the Big Canopy Database, is credited with speeding cross-disciplinary collaboration just as a common database revolutionized the mapping of the human genome.

Nadkarni, a professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia,Washington, is known for using nontraditional pathways to raise awareness of nature’s importance, working with prisoners, artists, dancers, musicians, and even loggers. Her work has been featured in Glamour, National Geographic, on TV, and in a giant-screen film, as well as in traditional science publications.

Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections with Trees
Drawing from her 2008 book of the same name, Nadkarni presents a rich tapestry of personal stories celebrating profound connections we have with trees: the dazzling array of goods and services they provide, their role in commerce and medicine, and the powerful lessons they hold for us.

This event co sponsored by The Environmental Institute (TEI), the TEI Art and Environment Working Group, UMass Amherst Department of Natural Resources Conservation, UMass Amherst Department of Political Science, The Graduate School, and the Engineering Research Center for the Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA)