April 23, 2026
11 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Ross Hall
When author Amy Stewart discovered a community of tree collectors, she expected to meet horticultural fanatics driven to plant every species of oak or maple. But she also discovered that the urge to collect trees springs from something deeper and more profound: a longing for community, a vision for the future, or a path to healing and reconciliation.
In this talk, you’ll hear about several of the remarkable people Stewart met from around the world whose lives were transformed by their relationships to trees and how these interactions inspired her newest book, The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession. Accompanied by her own hand-drawn illustrations of people and their trees, Stewart aims to inspire us to reconsider our own connections to trees—and maybe start a collection!
CEUs available: LA CES and APLD
Amy Stewart is the New York Times best-selling author of The Tree Collectors, The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Plants, and several other popular non-fiction titles about the natural world. She’s also written several novels in her beloved Kopp Sisters series, which are based on the true story of one of America’s first female deputy sheriffs and her two rambunctious sisters.
Location Ross Hall