“My name is Ethan Zuckerman. I'm a professor of Public Policy Information and Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Lydia invited me to participate in the project, the Classroom of Natural Intelligence, in part, because I'm an analytical and critical guy. In other words, I seldom talk to trees. But about halfway through my session with Lydia, I received unambiguous instructions from an upper tree that I've been sitting. He told me to take my shoes off and press my feet to its roots.

It took me a couple minutes to get over my self-consciousness and actually do it. But I did. And what I felt was clearly some sort of communication. I don't have very good words to describe it, but I've been forced to revise my sense of communication with the northern in the world.

One of the classes I currently teach is about how housing systems adapt to climate change. I've structured the class carefully to feature a reverse range of human voices. And now I'm thinking about how to bring the northern human world into the dialogue as well.”