A Geologist, a Photographer and a Theologian Walk into the Woods: Wonder, Grief and Hope in an Old-Growth Forest in an Age of Wildfire

Author(s)

• Vincent J. Miller, University of DaytonFollow
• Frederick J. Swanson, U.S. Forest Service
• David Paul Bayles

Document Type

Multimedia

Publication Date

2-25-2025

Abstract

In 2007, Catholic theologian Vince Miller had a sabbatical and went to the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon. In the late 1970s and early '80s, this is the place where the fundamental research was done that established old growth as a certain kind of ecological community. This emerged out of the fuel of forestry, which was largely concerned prior to that with harvest schedules and maximum sustainable yield. So, the research they did there, which was profoundly interdisciplinary, engaged the ecosystem across all sorts of disciplines. Out of that interdisciplinary work, it became a place that began to welcome other nonscientific disciplines as well — and a place that reflects what science and the arts and the humanities can do together.

Comments

The item available for download is a transcript of the presentation.

eCommons Citation

Miller, Vincent J.; Swanson, Frederick J.; and Bayles, David Paul, "A Geologist, a Photographer and a Theologian Walk into the Woods: Wonder, Grief and Hope in an Old-Growth Forest in an Age of Wildfire" (2025). Intersections of Science and Faith. 6.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/science_faith/6