In 1984, TED talks began as a way to spread innovative ideas through short, powerful lectures. Short for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, TED talks now cover every conceivable topic, and have grown in popularity and exposure thanks to online channels like YouTube. The following are some of our favorite TED talks on outdoor topics.
How Trees Talk to Each Other. In this lecture, Suzanne Simard discusses how trees communicate with one another, even over vast distances. Sminard’s thirty years of experience have led to discoveries that will change your view of the natural world, and open your eyes to a reality none of us knew existed all around us.
Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. Louie Swartzberg’s stunning time-lapse images, paired with
Inspiring words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast offer up a relaxing meditation on the beauty of nature. This presentation will inspire feelings of gratitude for the wonders of nature all around us.
Is Your Yard Saving the Earth or Killing It? After twenty years in pharmaceutical marketing management, our very own John McCabe dove into a career change. Pursuing his first love of landscape design and horticulture, he founded McCabe’s Nursery and Landscape Construction in 2003. In this local TEDx talk, he discusses the ways in which individual homeowners can either contribute to environmental harm, or make choices to help save our planet.
The World’s Oldest Living Things. In this powerful TED presentation, photographer Rachel Sussman will challenge your ideas of life and longevity on Earth. These images of the world’s oldest living things include 2,000-year-old brain coral off the coast of Tobago, and an “underground forest” in South Africa that predates agriculture.
Nature is Everywhere – We Just Need to Learn to See It. A writer who focuses on environmental science, policy, and culture, Emma Marris hopes to challenge you idea of what “nature” really is. Hoping to inspire the next generation to notice and appreciate nature all around us, she describes her approach as “more interested in finding and describing solutions than delineating problems, and more interested in joy that despair”.
Did you enjoy these TED talks? We hope they inspired you to see nature all around you, to cherish the gifts offered by our Earth, and to do your part in preserving them.
