The Plant Initiative

The Plant Initiative is pleased to sponsor an online conversation with Dr. Marc Bekoff on the topic of respect for plants

                                              Thursday, December 22, 2022
                                         12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Central US Time

                                                          Register here

 What does it mean to treat plants with respect? Can we think of plants as well as animals as "minded beings"? What kind of ethical issues are raised by recent scientific research on plant sentience and intelligence? These are some of the questions that we will explore with Dr. Marc Bekoff, a world expert on animal emotions and animal behavior.

Dr. Bekoff is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has published over 30 books, won many awards for his research on animal behavior, animal emotions, compassionate conservation, and animal protection, has worked closely with Jane Goodall, and is a former Guggenheim Fellow.

Marc has also published a number of essays on plants, such as What’s It Like to Be a Plant? An Interview with "Planta Sapiens" Author, The Inner Lives of Plants: Cognition, Sentience, and Ethics, Are Plants Intelligent?, and Smarty Plants: Research Shows they Think, Feel, and Learn.

His latest books are The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age (with Jessica Pierce), Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do, and Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Canine Companion the Best Life Possible (with Jessica Pierce) and he also publishes regularly for Psychology Today. Marc and Jessica's most recent book A Dog's World: Imagining the Lives of Dogs in a World Without Humans was published by Princeton University Press in October 2021. Dogs Demystified: An A-Z Guide to All Things Canine will be published by New World Library in June 2023. In 1986 Marc won the Master's age-graded Tour de France. He also works closely with inmates at the Boulder County Jail. In June 2022 Marc was recognized as a Hero by the Academy of Dog Trainers. His homepage is marcbekoff.com.

Marc's philosophy can be expressed in his own words: "My research and writing reflect my on-going and eclectic interests that center on the basic tenets of compassionate conservation, namely, "First do no harm" and the life of every individual matters because they are alive and have intrinsic value, not because of what they can do for us. Treating every individual with respect and dignity is the decent thing to do."

There will be time for questions from the audience following the discussion. The program will be livestreamed on Zoom with a link to be sent to participants before the event and will also be recorded and available for viewing online afterwards.

We hope that you will join us for this unique free event!

Each month, The Plant Initiative sends out an e-mail newsletter to provide timely information and resources about improving the plant-human connection as well as to keep you up to date on our work.

Here's the link to the November 2022 e-newsletter which was sent on November 15, 2022.

To subscribe to the e-newsletter, just visit our home page and enter your e-mail address on the form at the bottom of the page. If you have a suggestion for a resource, event, or other item that may be of interest to subscribers, please consider sharing it with us at info@plantinitiative.org. 

Thank you

2021 was the first full year of The Plant Initiative! We have made some real progress toward our mission of building a movement to increase respect for plants through advocacy, collaboration and partnerships, and education and outreach. We feel encouraged about what has been accomplished in our first year as outlined in this annual report, particularly since we are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. We greatly appreciate all of the support and interest you have shown over the past year and look forward to more progress in 2022!

Learn more about our work by reading or downloading the report here or by clicking on the report cover,