What if trees can be guides back into our relationship with the living world?

In a world that feels increasingly disconnected, our strong neighbors, the trees, are offering a pathway home. Join ACES’ first Executive Director, Jody Cardamone, for an intimate conversation with environmental psychologist and Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Dr. Lindsay Branham, as they explore why a relationship with nature is so important for our personal and planetary healing.

In Lindsay’s debut lyrical non-fiction book Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees, she explores how to discover an embodied and emotional bond with the living world. Come and hear stories from this land, told by two people who care deeply about its future, and leave inspired to foster your own sacred relationship with nature.

We will start the evening inside, followed by an optional walk around Hallam Lake.

About the presenters:

Dr Lindsay Branham is an environmental psychologist and Emmy-nominated filmmaker. Her debut book, Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees explores how coming home to nature is healing for ourselves and the planet. She draws from 20 years of contemplative practice, writing as a spiritual exploration of connection with nature and the transformational power of listening to and speaking with the land. Heartwood is praised by Richard Rohr as “a gift to widen our hearts with love for this suffering world.”

She is a regular columnist for The Aspen Times about environmental issues facing the Roaring Fork Valley and lives in Aspen.

Jody Cardamone is an Aspen native, environmental education mentor, and life-long student of the natural world. She was the first director of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and together with her husband Tom, nurtured ACES and the Hallam Lake preserve for nearly four decades. Having known the Mace family since childhood, Jody was excited to work with Stuart Mace, an ACES founding board member, forging a bond and a shared mission that would inspire the Aspen community and it’s visitors in meaningful and lasting ways.