How I Became an Academic Storyteller

Abstract

This chapter is about me making my way in academia. It is about culture, encounters and coincidences that led me to where I am at today, and the principles I struggle to adhere to in my daily work. I portray myself as a storyteller who devotes her days to stories about sustainability and societal change, and who continue to find forest stories particularly interesting to explore. Forests regulate global and local climate, purify water and regulate water flows. Forests host many species and habitat types that through their diverse webs of life create resilience in a changing climate, provide us with materials and shelter and shape social identities – how we look at ourselves, other people, our country and its place in the world. Forests are, all at once, private, common, global, national, local, an ecosystem, a tree, a place, a landscape, a habitat and a resource. Forests are there even if we don't tell stories about them. They remind us of our shortcomings when they burn, endure large-scale insect infestations or fall in windstorms. Forests then talk back and provide material for new stories. My ambition is to nurture stories that capture the interactions and situate humans within forest ecosystems. After all, we are all forest-dependent people with stakes in liveable forest futures.

Published in

Title: Passion and Purpose in the Humanities : Exploring the Worlds of Early Career Researchers
Publisher: Routledge

SLU Authors

• Holmgren, Sara

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Other Humanities not elsewhere specified

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003490074-11
• ISBN: 978-1-032-78809-8
• eISBN: 978-1-003-49007-4

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/140240