How do we communicate effectively? In the world of conservation, outdoor recreation, forestry, and wildlife management, ineffective communication has often been a barrier to public understanding and acceptance.
Over the last 15 years, Ethan Tapper has led hundreds of events, attended by thousands of people, written books read by tens of thousands more, and built social media followings of hundreds of thousands, with videos watched millions of times each month. Ethan has been recognized as a writer – winning the 2025 New England Book Award for non-fiction – as well as a conservation communicator, winning numerous regional and national awards for his communication work. He will discuss the nuances of effective communication, including both messaging and story-telling and how we utilize different communication formats, from in-person events to social media, to reach people.
Learning Objectives:
Understand why effective communication is important;
Understand why language and messaging is important;
Understand how to use different formats to improve reach and delivery of messaging.
Presenters:
Ethan Tapper, Forester/Author, Bear Island LLC
Ethan Tapper is a forester, ecologist, content creator, and the bestselling author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World. For more than a decade, Ethan has been recognized as a thought-leader in the world of ecosystem stewardship, winning numerous regional and national awards for his work. More recently, he has been recognized as a writer – since its publication in 2024, How to Love a Forest has been named the winner of the 2025 New England Book Award for nonfiction, and received international acclaim. His highly-anticipated second book – The Forest Year: Finding Hope in a World Worth Saving – will be published in October, 2026, and is available for pre-order now.
Ethan’s message of relationship, responsibility and hope reaches millions of people each year through his writing, social media channels with hundreds of thousands of followers, and the hundreds of walks, talks and keynotes that he delivers across North America each year.
Ethan works, writes and runs a small consulting forestry business from his home at Bear Island – his 175-acre working forest, homestead, orchard and sugarbush in Vermont – and plays in his punk band, The Bubs.
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