Our mission is to study and protect old trees and ancient forests.
About
Ancient Forest Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2020. We conduct scientific research to understand how ancient trees and forests function and how environmental change is impacting them. Our research combines methods from diverse fields including forest ecology, plant physiology, and dendrochronology. We utilize advanced rope-based climbing techniques in order to directly access and study tree and forest canopy structure, function, and biological diversity.
We use science, visual media, and outreach to educate people about the value and importance of ancient trees and forests as well as threats to their survival. We document our research projects through photography and film and partner with diverse media organizations to share our work and educate the public. Our aim is to inspire people and build support for the conservation of ancient trees and forests.
We work with agencies, universities and other partners to provide information necessary for protecting and conserving ancient trees and forests into the future. Climate and other environmental changes are rapidly altering the conditions which sustain trees and forests, creating unprecedented threats to their survival. Our goal is to provide scientific insights that can help land managers address these threats.
Our History
The Ancient Forest Society (formerly called The Marmot Society) was born in the giant sequoia groves of Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Historic drought in 2012-2016 had severely impacted forests throughout California and provided a preview of the future under a rapidly changing climate. While working in these majestic forests, Anthony, Wendy and Steen were inspired to form an organization dedicated to studying and protecting giant sequoias and other ancient trees and forests.
Our Vision
Ancient trees and forests provide multiple benefits to people and the planet, yet are increasingly threatened by logging, land conversion, severe fire, climate change and other stressors. Our goal is to work with a diverse group of partners to provide critical scientific information necessary for addressing these threats and educating the public about the value and importance of protecting and conserving ancient trees and forests worldwide. We are a proud affiliate member of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition.
People
Staff
Anthony Ambrose
Co-founder, Executive Director and Board Member
Anthony is a plant physiological ecologist specializing in the study of climate effects on tree and forest structure and function. Anthony has been climbing and working in coast redwood, giant sequoia, and other tall forest canopies around the world for more than 24 years. Anthony is also a co-founder of Canopy Dynamics LLC, a private forest research, consulting, and media company. Based in South Lake Tahoe, California, Anthony loves to explore wild places and share the beauty and majesty of the natural world through film and photography.
Taylor Sheriff
Program Associate
Taylor is a plant physiologist whose work focuses on understanding the responses of trees to environmental disturbances. In northern Arizona she investigated how Southwestern trees are able to alter hydraulic architecture in response to severe drought. She then followed her dream to study the largest trees in the world by working in the Sequoia National Forest with Hugh Safford’s lab at the University of California, Davis and the U.S. Forest Service. Within several groves of the Sequoia National Forest, she conducted studies to assess the effects of the 2020 Castle fire on giant sequoia monarchs and understand the mechanisms driving sequoia fire injury and mortality. Based in Tucson, AZ, Taylor continues her passion of working with giant sequoias at the University of Arizona.
Wendy Baxter
Co-founder, Program Director and Board Member
Wendy Baxter is a forest canopy ecologist who has conducted research in some of the most pristine old-growth giant sequoia and coast redwood forests in California for more than a decade. She oversees Ancient Forest Society programs, collaborates on research and contributes to general operations. Wendy is a co-founder of Canopy Dynamics LLC, a private forest research, consulting, and media company. Based in South Lake Tahoe, CA, Wendy also makes short films to educate and inspire others to appreciate the beauty of our diverse and interconnected planet.
Breezy Jackson
Field Scientist
Breezy is an ecosystem ecologist who studies fires, floods, and food webs in the Sierra Nevada and beyond. Based in Yosemite, she also directs the Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations for UC Merced. Breezy loves a good adventure in support of science including climbing for bat conservation, skiing to survey for rare mammals, and now soil and water sampling beneath giant sequoias part-time for Ancient Forest Society in the Mariposa Grove.
Board Members
Steen Christensen
An Ancient Forest Society co-founder, Steen has been growing and cultivating trees and teaching about trees and their benefits to people and the planet for more than 30 years. As co-founder of The Jonsteen Company and founder of the non-profit organization Trees for Little People, Steen strives to make the world a better place, one tree at a time. Based in McKinleyville, CA, Steen works with individuals, schools, businesses, non-profits, and government to boost the knowledge and appreciation for trees, and especially, to increase tree planting around the world.
Meg Lowman
Meg is an author, explorer, scientist, arbornaut, and conservationist. A pioneer in the field of treetop science, she has devoted over three decades to exploring forest canopies. Her research on forest conservation takes her to many countries that have relatively little scientific infrastructure. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Wired, Popular Science, and other leading outlets. Her current priorities include creating a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve in Malaysia’s rain forests and partnering with Coptic priests to save Ethiopia’s last forests.
Scott Baker
Scott D. Baker is a Registered Consulting Arborist , a Board Certified Master Arborist under the International Society of Arboriculture Certification Program, and an instructor of the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. An Honorary Life Member of ISA, Scott has 50 years of experience working with people to help them understand and manage trees. He has studied with some of the world’s leading tree scientists and has broad knowledge of tree biology and anatomy. He is respected as a speaker and educator in tree diagnostics, trees and construction, tree supported structures and urban forest issues. Scott is an avid climber and adventurer. As the principal consulting arborist with Tree Solutions Inc. in Seattle, Washington, Scott provides a variety of specialty services and consulting to private, municipal, and corporate clients.
Allison Kidder
Allison G. Kidder is a physiological ecologist specializing in California’s diverse plant communities and has assisted in tree canopy research throughout the range of the iconic old growth coast redwoods on projects studying epiphyte water relations and canopy lichen communities. As a previous Director of UC Berkeley’s Point Reyes Field Station, Allison started up the field station’s operations and online presence. She has a keen interest in all aspects of natural history and a background in technical writing, teaching, and curriculum development. Allison has served as a Science Advisor on the Board of the Tomales Bay Watershed Council Foundation and currently serves as Managing Editor of Manzanita, the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden’s quarterly publication. Allison Kidder assists with Ancient Forest Society’s communication and outreach.
Dan Dorosin
Dan Dorosin has been a partner at Fenwick & West LLP since 2001, where he works with high-growth startup companies and their investors to help them grow new entrepreneurial ventures from formation to exit. Dan advises on a broad range of corporate transactional matters, including financings, strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions, as well as corporate governance matters. Dan is a frequent lecturer on startup company formation and financing matters at the Stanford Engineering School and the Stanford d. School and serves on the Stanford Technology Ventures Program Board of Advisors. Dan is particularly focused on climate related matters, both in his startup practice and outside of the office. Growing out of that, Dan is actively involved in natural climate solutions and, in particular, the emerging voluntary markets for forest carbon credits. Prior to joining Fenwick, Dan served in general counsel and corporate development roles at several venture financed companies. Dan began his career at a leading Silicon Valley law firm, where he was elected partner in 1993. Dan has a life-long passion for the outdoors. He regularly skis and hikes in the Sierras, is a two-time NOLS graduate and an avid cyclist. Dan received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Stanford and his law degree from UCLA. Dan and his wife Fern live in Palo Alto and have two grown children.
Scientific Advisory Committee
Nathan Stephenson
Nate Stephenson is a Scientist Emeritus with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Stationed for more than four decades in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, his research has focused on old forests: fire ecology, giant sequoia ecology, restoration of forests altered by prolonged fire exclusion, effects of ongoing climatic changes on forests, and adaptation to a rapidly changing environment. He is author of the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project chapter on the scientific basis for sequoia grove management. Nate is somewhat fanatical about backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, which he has been doing for the past 60 years. His favorite tree is the foxtail pine, with giant sequoia a close second.
Christy Brigham
National Park liaison, Dr. Christy Brigham received her doctorate in Ecology from UC Davis in 2001. Dr. Brigham has worked for the National Park Service in different parks in California as a scientist and manager for the past nineteen years. Dr. Brigham is currently the Chief of Resources Management and Science for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in the southern Sierra Nevada where she oversees forest management, wildlife management, cultural resources protection, and climate change adaptation and response for the park's many ecosystems.
