Peregrinations with Trees
Course Description
“Stay awhile,” says Mary Oliver’s “When I am among the trees.” Accompanied by guest lecturers and experts, we will wind our way around the magnificent trees of the Stanford campus, using Ron Bracewell's Trees of Stanford and its Environs as a guide. We will use trees as a perch from which to gaze upon human activities: poetry, literature, painting, mathematics, computer science, agriculture, economics, environmental history. We will learn to recognize individual tree species and to appreciate their distinctive contributions as features of ecosystems and constructed landscapes. The capstone of the course is a project you will develop based on the connections of trees to your own interests in art, biology, computer science, literature, the environment, or other academic domains. The course goal is for you to deepen your appreciation for the importance and majesty of trees, toward enriching your experience of the campus and the world. At the end of the course, like Henry David Thoreau, we hope you can say “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”
Meet the Instructors
Noah Rosenberg
“My interest in trees traces to a childhood curiosity with identifying street trees planted in the city of Chicago. As a mathematical evolutionary biologist with an undergraduate degree in math and a PhD in biology, I am a Professor in the Department of Biology, where my research concerns the mathematics of evolutionary trees. Projects in my lab have made connections between evolutionary trees and sports tournaments, and between trees in the world and concepts from phylogenetics, the study of evolutionary relationships. I am delighted to co-teach the 'tree course' with Devaki this year; we will branch out from trees themselves to explore many aspects of the human connection to trees, all while enjoying the trees on our beautiful campus.”
Devaki Bhaya
“Perhaps growing up in small town India and spending time climbing trees gave me a lifelong respect for the beauty and power of trees. During my career in India and at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford, I got fascinated by an ancient and versatile group of 'green' microbes called Cyanobacteria that have been dubbed 'life’s microbial heroes.' So in our lab, we explore their ability to thrive in extreme environments, such as in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. However, ten years ago, I taught a First-Year Seminar called 'Party with Trees' that made me realize that sauntering and learning about the magnificent trees around campus in the company of other tree-lovers is a very special way to connect! I taught 'Partner with Trees' in 2022 and I hope this time around will be equally inspiring.”
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