Lectures on Tap - "The Hidden Science of Trees: How Wood Works"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: ""The Hidden Science of Trees: How Wood Works""

🎙️ Speaker: Dr. Sophie Everbach

Trees are everywhere around us, quietly shaping our landscapes and our lives. Their woody bodies let them soar to astonishing heights, acting as living bridges between earth and sky. But what exactly makes wood such a powerful and successful innovation in plant evolution?

In this engaging lecture, botanist Dr. Sophie Everbach will explore how trees grow, function, and adapt through their wood. You’ll learn how trees “eat” objects, why some trees have annual growth rings (and others don’t), how trees store their lived history in their bodies, and what really distinguishes hardwoods from softwoods. Discover what knots and hollows are, how trees cope with gravity and wind, and why white oaks are uniquely suited for aging fine wine.

Dr. Everbach recently completed her PhD in botany at Harvard University, where she studied how trees engineer their woody bodies to forage for light under constant mechanical stress. Her research involved growing trees at unusual angles and slicing them into delicate sections—like scientific stained glass—to reveal the hidden architecture of wood.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.