04/23/2026
Today we rigged out some pretty large storm damaged branches from a cottonwood. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to talk with Megan Kaminski’s students about trees, insects, forestry, arboriculture in Marvin Grove in the KU campus. Megan is a very talented and inspiring poet, educator, friend, colleague AND Tree Talks Alum. The next Tree Talks is in less than a week. The class we met with is part of the Environmental Studies Program at KU. It’s called “Care Practices: Ecology, Community, Self”
This interdisciplinary course explores practices of care for the ecologies and communities of which we are a part—as well as liberatory modes of self-care. It explores our local ecologies through field trips and community-engaged learning and connect what students learn to larger environmental issues, including species extinction, climate change, and the uneven distribution of harms across people and place.