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When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America's Black Botanical Legacy
When plant biologist Beronda Montgomery sat down to write When Trees Testify, a personal memoir mixed with a botanical history of African Americans, she found her research as a PhD lab scientist had brought her squarely into the world of social science as well. From her studies of how plants respond to light during photosynthesis, she started shining a light on the history of extensive plant cultivation by African Americans, including those who endured forced labor.
Freedom Trees and The Pecan Master
We continue our chat with Beronda Montgomery about her book, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy. She discusses abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s use of the sycamore tree to help guide enslaved people to freedom, how an enslaved man named Antoine made a breakthrough to graft a successful variety of pecan tree, and the significance of trees as physical companions and powerful metaphors for resilience as we celebrate Juneteenth and remember the end of slavery.
Trump Cuts Ocean Monitoring
The National Science Foundation has announced it will begin removing most of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a collection of roughly 900 instruments in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that gathers fixed-point data on temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and more. The move is part of a broader trend within the current administration to shelve climate science research and reporting.
Seeking Environmental Justice in Papua New Guinea
The indigenous residents of Bougainville island in Papua New Guinea say their home used to provide them with everything they needed—shelter, fertile land, and clean water. That is until a copper and gold mine run by British-Australian company Rio Tinto set up shop and operated in the 1970s and 80s. Today, heavy metals like copper sulfate and cadmium still pollute waterways, and Theonila Roka Matbob, the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner for Islands and Island Nations, has been fighting for years to pressure Rio Tinto into taking full responsibility for remediating this damage.
I Know Where the Wild Crane Goes
Sandhill cranes are now nesting up on the tundra, northwest of upper Hudson Bay. Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender has followed them there from their wintering grounds in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico.
U.N. Affirms Climate Duty
More than two-thirds of U.N. members recently voted in favor of a resolution affirming a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice that countries have a legal obligation to limit global warming. While this advisory opinion is not enforceable, it will likely be cited in lawsuits and appeals as a fact in the fight against climate disruption.
World Cup in a Warming World
The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will mostly take place during the North American summer, and the prospect of extreme heat prompted a group of current and former players to write an open letter to FIFA calling for better protection of players. Stuart Parkinson, a co-author of the 2025 report “FIFA’s Climate Blind Spot: The Men’s World Cup in a Warming World”, talks about the risks for players and fans as well as the climate costs of the 2026 games.
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George Washington Carver--Healing Cotton-Ravaged Soil
George Washington Carver was born into slavery but went on to become a famous agronomist and helped poor people in the South improve their lives and soils by planting peanuts and other legumes. This week, he comes back from the past in the form of actor and playwright Paxton Williams, who joins us as “George Washington Carver” to talk about the future of modern-day agriculture and intersections between racial dynamics and agricultural development.
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America's Black Botanical Legacy
When plant biologist Beronda Montgomery sat down to write When Trees Testify, a personal memoir mixed with a botanical history of African Americans, she found her research as a PhD lab scientist had brought her squarely into the world of social science as well. From her studies of how plants respond to light during photosynthesis, she started shining a light on the history of extensive plant cultivation by African Americans, including those who endured forced labor.
Freedom Trees and The Pecan Master
We continue our chat with Beronda Montgomery about her book, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy. She discusses abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s use of the sycamore tree to help guide enslaved people to freedom, how an enslaved man named Antoine made a breakthrough to graft a successful variety of pecan tree, and the significance of trees as physical companions and powerful metaphors for resilience as we celebrate Juneteenth and remember the end of slavery.
This Week’s Show
June 12, 2026
listen / download
George Washington Carver--Healing Cotton-Ravaged Soil
listen / download
George Washington Carver was born into slavery but went on to become a famous agronomist and helped poor people in the South improve their lives and soils by planting peanuts and other legumes. This week, he comes back from the past in the form of actor and playwright Paxton Williams, who joins us as “George Washington Carver” to talk about the future of modern-day agriculture and intersections between racial dynamics and agricultural development.
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America's Black Botanical Legacy
listen / download
When plant biologist Beronda Montgomery sat down to write When Trees Testify, a personal memoir mixed with a botanical history of African Americans, she found her research as a PhD lab scientist had brought her squarely into the world of social science as well. From her studies of how plants respond to light during photosynthesis, she started shining a light on the history of extensive plant cultivation by African Americans, including those who endured forced labor.
Freedom Trees and The Pecan Master
listen / download
We continue our chat with Beronda Montgomery about her book, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy. She discusses abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s use of the sycamore tree to help guide enslaved people to freedom, how an enslaved man named Antoine made a breakthrough to graft a successful variety of pecan tree, and the significance of trees as physical companions and powerful metaphors for resilience as we celebrate Juneteenth and remember the end of slavery.
Special Features
Field Note: "After the Storm"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, ruminates on the storm as it meets the shore.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Field Note: "Countermeasures"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, shares observations about shorebirds in flight.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
...Ultimately, if we are going prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we are going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them...
-- President Barack Obama, November 6, 2015 on why he declined to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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