🎤 Guest Speaker: Christian Schwartz
🗓️ Date: March 10, 2026
⏰ Time: 7 p.m. CST
💚 Cost: Free with Registration (Donations Accepted)
By now, almost everyone's heard of "Wood Wide Webs" — invisible forest networks through which trees, fungi, and other organisms communicate and exchange resources. This concept has been covered extensively in mainstream news and popular science outlets, and has even made its way into movies and fiction! But where did this idea come from? What do we actually know about how it works? We'll talk about the history of the metaphor, take a look at the existing body of research, examine recent challenges to the idea from modern findings, and think about what directions future investigations might need to take.
This program is a part Healthy Soils, Healthy Trees research and is funded by COA Urban Forestry Grant.
Join the Live Stream on YouTube
About the Speaker
Christian Schwarz is an itinerant naturalist from California. He is co-author of "Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast” as well as the upcoming "Mushrooms of Cascadia". Fungi satisfy his curiosity with their endless forms – from the grotesque to the bizarre to the sublime – and provide a rich lens through which to learn about the bigger pictures of ecology and evolution. He loves fish, plants, nudibranchs, moths, and dragonflies, and is passionate about community science.
About Healthy Soils, Healthy Trees
This program is dedicated to educating our community about the vital, hidden relationships that sustain our local ecosystems. We focus on the critical role of mycorrhizal fungi—the symbiotic partners of plant roots—in building healthy, resilient soil. Healthy soil, teeming with fungal life, is the foundation for strong, drought-resistant trees and vibrant native landscapes. Through workshops, forays, and expert talks, we explore how nurturing this underground network is key to conservation and sustainable gardening in Central Texas.