Anna R. Carlson

I grew up in rural northeast Ohio and was the fifth generation to live on my family’s farm. I spent my childhood outside and learned from an early age to respect nature - the wiliness of wildlife and the persistence of plants, particularly in places where they are unwanted. In the community where I was raised, relationships between people and nature were usually cast as conflicts - contentious relationships to be resolved with traps, poisons, and bullets. 

I was always told I was too soft-hearted to be a farmer. When I decided I wanted to be a scientist, that sentiment followed me. I was told that I cared too much about the subjects in the systems I wanted to study and that my empathy was a hindrance at best and unprofessional anthropomorphization at worst. 

As a science communicator, I've found that empathy isn't a liability; it's a methodology. 

Today, I’m the outreach coordinator for the Working Woods Hub at Holden Arboretum, where I translate primary research and trusted forest management practices into workshops, webinars, and educational programs for local landowners. My work is grounded in the belief that centering reciprocity and stewardship can dismantle the false dichotomy framing humans and nature as something separate and apart, and instead help us find our way forward into a more connected, convivial future.