Peter Wohlleben in conversation with Dr. Jane Goodall

Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice. He now runs an environmentally-friendly woodland in Germany, where he is working toward the return of primeval forests.  He is the author of numerous books about the natural world including the New York Times bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, The Inner Lives of Animals, and The Secret Wisdom of Nature, which together make up his bestselling "The Mysteries of Nature" Series. He has also written numerous books for children including Can You Hear the Trees Talking? and Peter and the Tree Children.

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace began her landmark study of chimpanzee behavior in July 1960 in what is now Tanzania. Her work at Gombe Stream would become the foundation of future primatological research and redefine the relationship between humans and animals.  In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, which continues the Gombe research and is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. The Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the global environmental and humanitarian youth program. Dr. Goodall founded Roots & Shoots with a group of Tanzanian students in 1991.Today,

Roots & Shoots is active in more than 60 countries and since its inception has greatly impacted participants of all ages in over 100 countries. All of whom take action to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment.

For the past 30 years, Dr. Goodall has been speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, other environmental crises, and her reasons for hope that humankind will solve the problems it has imposed on the earth. Dr. Goodall’s honors include the French Legion of Honor, the Medal of Tanzania, and Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize. In 2002, Dr. Goodall was appointed to serve as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and in 2003, she was named a Dame of the British Empire.

Donna Seaman is Editor for Adult Books for Booklist. She is also a member of the Content Leadership Team for the American Writers Museum, and a recipient of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award and the Louis Shores Award for excellence in book reviewing. Her author interviews are collected in Writers on the Air: Conversations about Books, and she is the author of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists.