Memorializing trees: emotional responses to species ‘lost’ to disease

How are the lives of trees lost to disease memorialised? This talk focuses on two tree species heavily impacted by disease, ash and elm, addressing efforts to mark the decline of these trees through sculpture, archival projects and storytelling. I question the role of these artworks within wider restoration efforts, focusing on the emotional responses to loss that they present. Additionally, I examine what is not included in these efforts to preserve the memory of tree loss into the future.

James Weldon (he/him) is an ESRC-funded PhD researcher at Cardiff University in the School of Geography and Planning. Prior to that he completed an MSc in Social Science Research Methods at Cardiff University and an MA in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently studying the social and cultural dimensions of the restoration of treescapes in the aftermath of disease.