Suzanne Simard’s new research from When the Forest Breathes.
This month’s big idea comes from our dear friend, scientist Suzanne Simard. In her soon-to-be-published book, When the Forest Breathes (March 31, 2026), Suzanne shows that the forest’s cycle of destruction and death, rebirth, and renewal teaches us how to care for ecosystems—and for ourselves.
In Finding the Mother Tree, Suzanne presented her groundbreaking discovery that trees are intelligent: they communicate, take care of their young, and even gossip about who is generous and who is stingy. Finding the Mother Tree was a global bestseller that changed the way we see cooperation and competition in the natural world.
Building on that discovery—and her family background in logging—Suzanne’s research took a new direction: how can we preserve the health of forests while we depend on them and while our climate is changing? When the Forest Breathes, presents her findings from The Mother Tree Project, one of the largest field experiments in the world, alongside her conversations with indigenous land stewards and her personal story of losing her mother while watching her daughters grow into adults and follow in her footsteps as ecologists.
In When the Forest Breathes, Suzanne reminds us that destruction and death are inevitable parts of life, including our own, and necessary for rebirth and regeneration. When we take those cycles as a starting point, we can learn from forests to increase abundance in our own lives. When the forest breathes, flourishes, and thrives, so do we.
Below are the first few paragraphs of When the Forest Breathes.
There is no way to understand how something grows without also understanding how it dies.
When you walk in the forest, you see the abundance and growth, but if you look closer, you will also see disturbance and decay. There is beauty in life, but there is also beauty in death and in what remains behind. In the forest, renewal only comes with dying. It is part of my life’s work to understand how this renewal happens and what these processes have to teach us.
Nature is a rich fabric of endless cycles, from mushrooms breaking down logs, to bacteria and fungi transforming organic sources and creating “dead” matter that is full of life, to aging trees “downloading” their genetic knowledge to their young. As young trees mature, they learn, adapt, and grow with their evolving circumstances, and pass their wisdom to the next generations, ensuring the forest is enduring, regenerative, and resilient. Our own lives are inextricably bound by the same rules and destiny: Birth, growth, death, decay, rebirth.
Nature is waiting for us to listen. And to learn.
You can join Suzanne on the next leg of her journey of discovery by pre-ordering here.
In other author news:
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Ethan’s Kross’ Chatter: The Workbook provides a practical companion to Chatter, his essential primer on how we can take control over our self-talk.
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Sunitah Sah’s bestselling, inspiring Defy came out in paperback (with a new subtitle: How to Speak Up When It Matters).
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Justin Garcia drew on his groundbreaking research in The Intimate Animal for a piece on the surprising science of infidelity in The Guardian.
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Martin Picard talked about the fascinating connection between mitochondria and longevity on The Huberman Lab.
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Sam Pollard’s documentary on the dearly departed Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the Peace Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
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Doug will be hosting a talk with The Future is Peace authors Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon in Santa Cruz on April 20th — come see us in person!
With gratitude,
Doug & the IA Team (Alyssa, Elizabeth, Jordan, Kelly, Rebecca, Sarah, Shannon, & Wenonah)