Student project manager Phineas Lumpkin interviews Dr. Beronda L. Montgomery ahead of the Clarke Forum program “When Trees Testify: Learning From and With Trees,” presented by the Clarke Forum and the Morgan Lecture Fund, held in conjunction with the Trout Gallery exhibition Branch: Trees in American Art. Montgomery is a plant biologist, science communicator, and professor at Grinnell College. She is the author of two books, Lessons from Plants (2021) and her newest, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy (2026), which examines how seven trees and the cotton shrub are intertwined with Black history and culture. In the interview, Montgomery considers how her path in plant biology led her to the connections between plants and Black history, key takeaways from her book, and what she hopes to explore next.