ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nalini Nadkarni - Tree researcher
Called "the queen of canopy research," Nalini Nadkarni explores the rich, vital world found in the tops of trees. She communicates what she finds to non-scientists -- with the help of poets, preachers and prisoners.

Why you should listen

Nalini Nadkarni has spent two decades climbing the trees of Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, the Amazon and the Pacific Northwest, exploring the world of animals and plants that live in the canopy and never come down; and how this upper layer of the forest interacts with the world on the ground. A pioneering researcher in this area, Nadkarni created the Big Canopy Database to help researchers store and understand the rich trove of data she and others are uncovering.

Nadkarni teaches at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, but her work outside the academy is equally fascinating -- using nontraditional vectors to teach the general public about trees and the ecosystem. For instance, she recently collaborated with the dance troupe Capacitor to explore the process of growth through the medium of the human body. In another project, she worked with prison inmates to grow moss for the horticulture trade, to relieve the collecting pressure on wild mosses. The project inspired in her students a new reverence for nature -- and some larger ecochanges at the prison.

She's the author of Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees.

More profile about the speaker
Nalini Nadkarni | Speaker | TED.com
TED2010

Nalini Nadkarni: Life science in prison

Nalini Nadkarin: Jeta shkencore në burgë

Filmed:
532,793 views

Nalini Nadkarni sfidon prespektiven tonë në dru dhe burgë --- ajo thot që të dyja mund të jenë më dinamike sesa që ne mendojmë. Nepermjet një partneriteti me shtetin e Washingonit, ajo sjell klasa shkencore dhe programe konzervuese tek të burgosurit, me rezultate të papritëshme.
- Tree researcher
Called "the queen of canopy research," Nalini Nadkarni explores the rich, vital world found in the tops of trees. She communicates what she finds to non-scientists -- with the help of poets, preachers and prisoners. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
Trees epitomize stasis.
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Hija e pemëve.
00:19
Trees are rooted in the ground in one place
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Pemet i kanë rrënjet të gjitha në një vend
00:21
for many human generations,
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për shumë gjenerata njerëzore,
00:24
but if we shift our perspective
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mirpo nese e ndrrojmë prespektiven tonë
00:26
from the trunk to the twigs,
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nga trungu tek gjethet,
00:28
trees become very dynamic entities,
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pemët bëhen entitete shumë dinamike,
00:30
moving and growing.
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duke lëvizur dhe rritur.
00:32
And I decided to explore this movement
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Dhe unë vendosa ta eksploroi këtë lëvizje
00:34
by turning trees into artists.
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duke i kthyer pemët në artistë.
00:36
I simply tied the end of a paintbrush onto a twig.
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Unë thjesht e lidha fundit e brushes së pikturimit në një degë.
00:39
I waited for the wind to come up and held up a canvas,
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Prita që të vinte erdha dhe ta mbante sipër,
00:42
and that produced art.
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dhe ajo do prodhonte artë.
00:44
The piece of art you see on your left
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Pjesa e artiti që shihni në të majtë
00:46
is painted by a western red cedar
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është pikturuar nga nje piktorë i menqur
00:48
and that on your right by a Douglas fir,
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dhe ajo në të djathten tuaj nga një Douglas fir,
00:50
and what I learned was that different species
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dhe ajo që kam mësuar ishte që specjet e ndryshme
00:52
have different signatures, like a Picasso versus a Monet.
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kan nenshkrime të ndryshme sikurse një Picaso kundres një Monet.
00:55
But I was also interested in the movement of trees
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Mirpo unë isha gjithashtu i interesuar mbi lëvizjen e pemve
00:57
and how this art might let me capture that and quantify it,
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dhe si ky art do mund të me le ta kapi atë dhe ta numëroi,
01:01
so to measure the distance that a single vine maple tree --
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pra për ta matur distancen që ka një vin e vetme peme --
01:04
which produced this painting -- moved in a single year,
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e cila e prodhojë këtë pikturë -- lëvizur në një vitë të vetem,
01:07
I simply measured and summed
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Une thjesht e mata dhe e mbledha
01:09
each of those lines.
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secilen prej këtyre linjave.
01:11
I multiplied them by the number of twigs per branch
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E shumzova ato me nje numer të degve
01:14
and the number of branches per tree
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dhe numrin e degve për pemë
01:16
and then divided that by the number of minutes per year.
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dhe pastaj e pjestova atë me numrin e minutave për vitë.
01:19
And so I was able to calculate
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pra ishte në gjendje të kalkuloj
01:21
how far a single tree moved in a single year.
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se sa larg një pem e vetme lëvizi në një vitë të vetem.
01:24
You might have a guess.
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Ju mund të keni hamendur.
01:26
The answer is actually 186,540 miles,
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Përgjigjëja faktikisht është 186,540 mila,
01:29
or seven times around the globe.
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apo shtatë herë rreth globit.
01:32
And so simply by shifting our perspective from a single trunk
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Dhe pra thjesht duke e kaluar prespektiven tonë nga trup i vetem
01:35
to the many dynamic twigs,
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ne disa trupa dinamikë,
01:37
we are able to see that trees are not simply static entities,
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ne jemi në gjendje të shofim se pemet nuk janë thjesht etnitet statike,
01:40
but rather extremely dynamic.
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mirpo shumë dinamike.
01:43
And I began to think about ways that
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Dhe unë fillova të mendoj rreth menyrave që
01:45
we might consider this lesson of trees,
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ne mund ti konsiderojme si mesime të pemëve,
01:47
to consider other entities that are also static and stuck,
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për ti konsideruar etnitetit tjera që janë gjithashtu statike dhe te mbledhuar,
01:50
but which cry for change and dynamicism,
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mirpo të cilat vajtojnë për ndryshime dhe dinamizem,
01:53
and one of those entities is our prisons.
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dhe njëra nga këto etniteti është burgu ynë.
01:56
Prisons, of course, are where people who break our laws
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Burgjet sigurisht, janë për njerëzit të cilet i thejnë ligjet
01:58
are stuck, confined behind bars.
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të ngujohen, konfidenca mbapa grilave.
02:01
And our prison system itself is stuck.
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Dhe sistemi i burgut tone është vet i ngujuar.
02:04
The United States has over 2.3 million
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Shtetet e Bashkuara kan mbi 2.3 miljonë
02:06
incarcerated men and women.
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gra dhe burra të ngujuar.
02:08
That number is rising.
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Ky numër po rritet.
02:10
Of the 100 incarcerated people that are released,
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me 100 njerëz të burgosur të cilet lirohen,
02:13
60 will return to prison.
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60 prej tyre do të kthehen në burgë.
02:15
Funds for education, for training
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Fondet për edukim, për trajnim
02:17
and for rehabilitation are declining,
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dhe për rehabilitim janë duke i zvogluarë,
02:19
so this despairing cycle of incarceration continues.
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pra ky ciken deshprus i rritjes së vazhdueshme.
02:23
I decided to ask whether the lesson
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Unë vendosa tv pyes se a mundem
02:25
I had learned from trees as artists
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mësimet që kam mësuar për pemet si një artistë
02:27
could be applied to a static institution
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mund të aplikohen tek një institucjonë statik
02:29
such as our prisons,
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siq është burgu ynë,
02:31
and I think the answer is yes.
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dhe une mendoj se përgjigjëja është po.
02:33
In the year 2007,
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Në vitin 2007,
02:35
I started a partnership
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fillova një partneritet
02:37
with the Washington State Department of Corrections.
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me departamentin e permisimeve në Washingon.
02:40
Working with four prisons, we began bringing science and scientists,
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duke punuar me katër burgje, ne filluam të sjellin shkencën dhe shkenctaret,
02:43
sustainability and conservation projects
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vazhdimisht dhe projektet konservative
02:46
to four state prisons.
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për burgun e shtetit tonë.
02:48
We give science lectures,
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Ne jemi leksione shkencore,
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and the men here are choosing to come to our science lectures
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dhe njerëzit këtu zgjedhin të vinë në leksionet tona shkencore
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instead of watching television or weightlifting.
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ne vend se të shiqojnë telvizjonin.
02:56
That, I think, is movement.
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Une mendoj se eshte lëvizje.
02:58
We partnered with the Nature Conservancy
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Ne bem partneritet me natyren konzervative
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for inmates at Stafford Creek Correctional Center
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për të burgosurit tek qendra përmisuese ne Stafford
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to grow endangered prairie plants
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për të rritur planet tona
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for restoration of relic prairie areas in Washington state.
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për restaurim ne zonat e shtetit të Washingtonit.
03:08
That, I think, is movement.
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Ajo, une mendoj se eshte levizje.
03:10
We worked with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
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Ne punuam me departamentein e shtetit te Washingtonit
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to grow endangered frogs -- the Oregon spotted frog --
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per te rritur peshqi dhe bredgosa --
03:15
for later release into protected wetlands.
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per lirim të më vonshem ne tokat e laguara.
03:18
That, I think, is movement.
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Ajo mendoj se eshte lëvizje.
03:21
And just recently, we've begun to work with
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dhe vetem kohëve te fundit, ne filluam të punojm
03:23
those men who are segregated
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me keta njerz të cilat jan te ndarë
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in what we call Supermax facilities.
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ne ate qe ne e quajm ambiente Supermax
03:27
They've incurred violent infractions
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Ata kan inkurajuar infrakte violente
03:29
by becoming violent with guards
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duke i ber mbroja te tyre
03:31
and with other prisoners.
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dhe me te burgosur tjerë.
03:33
They're kept in bare cells like this
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Ata i kan mbajtu ne qeliza sikurse kjo
03:35
for 23 hours a day.
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per 23 orë në ditë.
03:37
When they have meetings with their review boards or mental health professionals,
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Kur ata kan takime me bordin e rishiqimeve apo kujdesit mental profesionistet
03:40
they're placed in immobile booths like this.
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ata i zevendesojne ato se bashku me kete.
03:43
For one hour a day
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Per nje ore ne dite
03:45
they're brought to these bleak and bland exercise yards.
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ata kan bler per keto fusha per ti shfrytzuar.
03:48
Although we can't bring trees and prairie plants
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Edhe pse nuk mund ti sjellim pemet dhe planetet tjera
03:50
and frogs into these environments,
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dhe bretkosat neketo ambiente,
03:52
we are bringing images of nature
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ne po sjellim imazhet e natyres
03:54
into these exercise yards,
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ne keto fusha te ushtrimeve,
03:56
putting them on the walls, so at least they get contact
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duke i vendosur ato neper mura, pra te pakten ato mund te ken kontakte
03:58
with visual images of nature.
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me imazhet vizuele te natyres.
04:01
This is Mr. Lopez, who has been in solitary confinement for 18 months,
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Ky eshte Zo. Lopez, i cili ka qen ne ambinete solituese per 18 vjet,
04:04
and he's providing input on the types of images
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dhe ai po ofron te hyper per kete lloje te imazheve
04:07
that he believes would make him and his fellow inmates
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që ai beson se do ta bente ate dhe te burgosurit tjerë
04:09
more serene, more calm,
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me teper serena,
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less apt to violence.
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me pak te adaptueshem tek dhuna.
04:15
And so what we see, I think,
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Dhe ate qe ne shofim, une mendoj,
04:17
is that small, collective movements of change
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është aq e vogel, ndryshimi i levizjeve te perbashkta
04:20
can perhaps move
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ndoshta mund te levizë
04:22
an entity such as our own prison system
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nje entitet sikurse sistemi i burgut tone
04:25
in a direction of hope.
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ne nje drejtim te shpreses.
04:27
We know that trees are static entities
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Ne e dim qe pemet jane etnitete statike
04:30
when we look at their trunks.
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kur i shiqojme bazen e tyre.
04:32
But if trees can create art,
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Mirpo nese nje pem mund te krijoj artë,
04:34
if they can encircle the globe seven times in one year,
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nese mund te arrin qellimin e nje globi ne nje vite,
04:37
if prisoners can grow plants and raise frogs,
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nese nje i burgosur mund te rrit nje planet dhe te rrit nje bretkose,
04:40
then perhaps there are other static entities
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sesa ndoshta nuk ka ndonej etnite tjeter
04:43
that we hold inside ourselves,
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qe do te mbaj vetveten,
04:46
like grief, like addictions,
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sikruse nje grif apo ndonje tjeter,
04:48
like racism,
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sikurse racizmi,
04:50
that can also change.
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i cili gjithashtu mund te ndryshoj.
04:52
Thank you very much.
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Faliminderit shumë.
04:54
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Liridon Shala
Reviewed by Robert Lokaj

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nalini Nadkarni - Tree researcher
Called "the queen of canopy research," Nalini Nadkarni explores the rich, vital world found in the tops of trees. She communicates what she finds to non-scientists -- with the help of poets, preachers and prisoners.

Why you should listen

Nalini Nadkarni has spent two decades climbing the trees of Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, the Amazon and the Pacific Northwest, exploring the world of animals and plants that live in the canopy and never come down; and how this upper layer of the forest interacts with the world on the ground. A pioneering researcher in this area, Nadkarni created the Big Canopy Database to help researchers store and understand the rich trove of data she and others are uncovering.

Nadkarni teaches at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, but her work outside the academy is equally fascinating -- using nontraditional vectors to teach the general public about trees and the ecosystem. For instance, she recently collaborated with the dance troupe Capacitor to explore the process of growth through the medium of the human body. In another project, she worked with prison inmates to grow moss for the horticulture trade, to relieve the collecting pressure on wild mosses. The project inspired in her students a new reverence for nature -- and some larger ecochanges at the prison.

She's the author of Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees.

More profile about the speaker
Nalini Nadkarni | Speaker | TED.com