Can trees speak? And, if so, what are they saying? Anthropology graduate student Meri Lesovska explored how people interpret communication from the natural world and earned first place in the anthropology category at the Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference.
Nearly half of participants in a recent Brigham Young University anthropology study said nature “definitely” communicates with them through color, wind, light, and seasonal change.
First-year graduate anthropology student Meri Lesovska from Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, took first place in anthropology at the December 2025 Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference for her project informally known as “Talking Trees.” Her research does not test whether trees literally communicate. Instead, it asks a simple question: How do people understand and interpret communication from the natural world?
Where the Question Began
Lesovska’s research idea began in ANTHR 407 Multispecies Sociality which was taught by Becky Schulthies, anthropology professor and Lesovska’s faculty mentor. In the class, students explored how humans relate not only to one another but also to other forms of non-human life.
During one class session, students experimented with small electronic devices that translate plant sonic vibrations into audible tones. As the tones shifted and fluctuated, Lesovska began wondering less about the technology and more about interpretation. What do people think is happening when they encounter something like this? Do they believe plants are communicating, or do they see the sounds as symbolic?
“We’re in constant mutual interaction with the non-human world. The messages we receive by nature may not look like human-to-human communication, but they still affect us,” she says.
Listening at the Duck Pond
Throughout last semester, Lesovska conducted interviews and observations at the duck pond south of campus, near Heritage Halls, and along the Provo River Trail. She wanted to understand how individuals describe their experiences in nature and whether they view non-human life as having agency or communicative capacity. To do so, she practiced ethnography, immersing herself in the same environments as her participants.
“Most people picture interviews as a structured sit-down interaction,” she says. “But you’re engaging in someone’s life experience and you’re getting them to talk about something as you’re in the something.”
Lesovska observed families feeding ducks and stretches of the Provo trail while writing down not just what people said but what they were doing. When appropriate, she asked individuals: "Why do you come here? Do you feel like nature communicates with you? Why do you think that revelatory moment happened in nature specifically?”
Participants reflected more carefully about nature and the intention in creation, describing it as spiritually meaningful and feeling closer to God when outdoors.
Rethinking Human–Nature Relationships
For Schulthies, this shift in thinking is one of the project’s most significant contributions. Many students at BYU already see nature as spiritually meaningful, but she points out that the framework is often limited and reflects culture as much as doctrine.
“There’s a very strong ideology that nature is just kind of a medium for spirituality, that it just triangulates us with God,” she explains.
In Schulthies’s view, Lesovska’s research challenges the idea that nature only serves as a setting for human spiritual experiences. Rather than treating trees or water as symbols that simply point people to God, the research asks whether non-human life might operate within “the sphere God created them within,” with its own form of participation and response.
This is why Schulthies requires students to present their work publicly. Research must be shared in a way that invites change, pushing students to think about audience and impact, not just theory.
Lessons from Listening
Lesovska’s research showed that people experience nature in rich, layered ways. About 45% of participants said nature “definitely” communicates through colors, seasonal shifts, wind, and light. Others saw nature as a spiritual messenger, viewing nature spiritually sourced comfort, peace, and healing. Many also attributed personality or spirit to animals and landscapes.
These findings mattered to her because they showed that engaging with nature is not just interpretive, but personal, relational, and moral.
Mentored research, Schulthies says, is not simply about guiding a student to a finished paper or conference presentation. It is collaborative work. It requires refining questions, reworking interviews, narrowing focus, and learning how to sit with uncertainty.
“There is a lot of power in collaborative work that creates something new. That’s the power of mentored research,” Schulthies says. “It’s a way to participate in the ongoing creation process that our Father in Heaven set in motion a long time ago.”
Lesovska now carries that experience into larger academic conferences and into her future thesis work. But the heart of her project remains grounded in ordinary places: a pond, a cluster of trees on campus, and a walking trail.
In a setting where mountains frame nearly every view, it can be easy to take nature for granted. “Talking Trees” suggests that what surrounds us every day may be asking for something simple: recognition.
Learn more about submitting your research to the Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference here.