A view of a low-slung black building surrounded by green plants and wildflowers under a blue sky

27th Annual
Winter Lecture Series

January 21, February 18, & March 11, 2027

11 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Ross Hall

From amplifying the transformative power of gardeners, to documenting the enduring lessons of ancient trees, to advocating for the rewilding of everyday landscapes, this year’s Winter Lecture Series explores the many ways people can serve as stewards of the natural world. Through stories of cultivation, preservation, and ecological renewal, Jennifer Jewell, Beth Moon, and Benjamin Vogt invite us to rethink what it means to care for the places we inhabit and to recognize our shared role in fostering a more resilient, vibrant, and sustainable future.

CEUs available: LA CES and APLD

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Jennifer Jewell | Cultivating Place: The Power of Gardeners

January 21; 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

As creator of the national, award-winning public-radio program and international podcast Cultivating Place, Jennifer Jewell’s greatest passion is the empowerment of gardeners. She’s built this platform based on the belief that gardens and gardeners are powerful agents and spaces for positive change in our world—helping to address challenges as wide-ranging as climate change, habitat loss, cultural polarization, and individual and communal health and being. Jewell will share how this power of gardens and gardeners is exemplified in her past 28 years of interviewing people tending to plants in their places.

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A black and white photo of enormous trees with white trunks and disc-shaped canopies

Beth Moon | Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time

February 18; 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For almost three decades, Beth Moon has photographed some of the world’s oldest and most extraordinary trees, creating a body of work that explores time, memory, mortality, and the enduring power of the natural world—earning international recognition for her large-scale, richly toned platinum prints. Moon will share her extraordinary images and stories from expeditions to photograph the ancient baobabs of Madagascar, the dragon’s blood trees of Socotra, the giant yews and oaks of Europe, sacred trees of Japan, and the monumental trees of Africa and North America.

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Image © Beth Moon

A misty suburban neighborhood with a former lawn full of wild-growing native plants

Benjamin Vogt | Unlawn America

March 11; 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Across the country, we’re finding our roots again in natural landscaping that revives local ecology and rebuilds communities. From humans to wildlife, and the diverse cultures of all, the tide is turning for healthy resilience. One of the advocates in this collective rewilding effort is Benjamin Vogt—garden designer, educator, author, activist, and owner of Prairie Up, a hub for sustainable and artful natural garden design, helping gardeners convert lawn to native plant communities. Join Vogt as he traces the history of lawns in the United States, analyzing their basis in division and compliance—from HOAs and municipal codes to racism and classism in the way neighborhoods are planned.

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Location Ross Hall

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