SAS Webinar
Saturday, September 12, 2026
“Healing the Nature/Culture Divide”
2:00 – 4:30 PM PT
by
M. Kat Anderson, ethnoecologist, writer
at 607 Pena Dr. Suite 600, Davis CA and on Zoom

Abstract: What does it mean to truly belong to a landscape, to listen to it, and let it sing back? In her new book, I Sing to the Earth and She Sings Back, ethnobotanist M. Kat Anderson invites us into a more intimate, embodied relationship with the natural world, one grounded in presence, reciprocity, and a reawakening of ancestral ways of knowing. Building on the foundation of her landmark book Tending the Wild, which transformed how we understand Indigenous stewardship of California’s landscapes, Anderson discusses her new book and how she draws from decades of collaboration with Native elders and a lifetime of personal experience as an ecologist. She will weave storytelling, cultural insight, and practical guidance into her talk that speak powerfully to our moment of ecological reckoning and spiritual disconnection, offering a grounded and hopeful path to reconnection — one that honors Indigenous wisdom without appropriating it.

About the speaker: M. Kat Anderson is an ethnoecologist, writer, gardener, and gatherer dedicated to restoring relationships between people and native ecosystems. With a Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science from UC Berkeley, she has spent over 25 years learning from Native American communities, integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Western science. As the author of Tending the Wild, she highlights indigenous stewardship practices essential for biodiversity, climate resilience, and cultural restoration. Her latest work, I Sing to the Earth and She Sings Back, explores how we can reimagine time, embrace reciprocity, and cultivate deep, healing relationships with the earth. She expects to have this latest book available for purchase.