Haskins Lecture 2026 with Joan Maloof - Forty Ways to Know a Tree

There are an estimated three trillion trees in the world, half as many as there once were. To honor and protect these vital organisms, a shift in perspective can help expand our understanding beyond simply appreciating trees' remarkable beauty to discovering the ways they are inextricably connected to our planet, our fellow species, and our spirits.

Please join us on Thursday, October 22nd from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at The Westport Library as biologist Joan Maloof, author of Forty Ways to Know a Tree: Exploring Trees to Understand Nature offers ways to engage with trees in authentic and captivating ways, as well as an invitation to think about trees beyond their beauty and to truly know a tree. Through the bark or rings of the trees themselves, or through the birds and the vital role they play in the larger ecosystem, get to know trees as you've never known them before!

​Joan Maloof is a writer, an ecologist, and a conservationist. Her formal education includes a Bachelor’s degree in Plant Science, a Master’s degree in Environmental Science, and a Doctorate in Ecology. She is a Professor Emeritus at Salisbury University, where she taught Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies. Maloof has published numerous research articles in publications such as Ecology,  American Journal of Botany, and the International Journal of Environmental Studies. Maloof’s books include Teaching the Trees (2005), Among the Ancients (2011), Nature’s Temples: The Complex World of Old-Growth Forests (2016), The Living Forest: A Visual Journey into the Heart of the Woods (2017), and Treepedia: A Brief Compendium of Arboreal Lore (2021).

In addition to her research and writing, Maloof founded an organization, the Old-Growth Forest Network, with the goal of creating a network of protected forests across the US. Maloof travels widely to educate others regarding the extent and condition of our forests and encourages their preservation.

Tickets are free and open to the public.

The Haskins Lecture is made possible by the generous support of the Caryl & Edna Haskins Fund and in partnership with The Westport Library.