Suzanne Simard

Suzanne Simard is a Canadian forest ecologist and a professor at the University of British Columbia. She comes from a family of loggers on Canada’s west coast. She is known for her research into communication and interconnectedness among trees and for the concept of the “Wood Wide Web,” describing underground connections between trees and other plants. Her work has helped make complex ecological relationships accessible to a broad audience and reportedly inspired, among other things, the depiction of the “Tree of Souls” in the film “Avatar.”