Sarah Abbott overview

Abbott, S. J. (2021). Tree Knowing: Ethnographic Encounters, Sensuous Scholarship, Relational Ontologies, and Environmental Empathy (Doctoral dissertation). Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

She treats trees as relational beings, not objects.

Abbott’s entire approach starts from the idea that trees have presence, agency, and ways of communicating that humans can learn to perceive. This shifts the researcher from observing at a tree to being with a tree.

2. Her methodology is grounded in sensory ethnography.

She emphasizes using the full body — sight, sound, touch, breath, posture — as legitimate sources of knowledge. Instead of distancing herself, she leans into sensory experience as a way of understanding how humans and trees interact.

3. She uses embodied, slow, attentive observation.

Abbott’s method requires slowing down, staying still, and letting the encounter unfold. She treats time differently: not as a schedule, but as something shared with the tree. This creates space for subtle forms of communication to emerge.

4. She focuses on atmosphere and emotional response.

Her work acknowledges that feelings, memories, and shifts in mood are part of the data. She sees emotional resonance as a sign of a relationship, not a distraction from “real” research.

5. She challenges anthropocentric assumptions.

Abbott’s methodology pushes back against the idea that humans are the only ones who produce meaning. She argues that trees shape the encounter too — through movement, sound, presence, and the environment they create.

6. She frames knowledge as something that arises between the human and the tree.

Instead of treating knowledge as something extracted from a tree, she sees it as co‑created through interaction. The relationship itself becomes the site of understanding.

7. Her work blends philosophy and practice.

Abbott’s methods aren’t just techniques; they express an ontological stance. She believes that how we study trees should reflect the reality that they are living beings with their own ways of being in the world.

⭐ A polished sentence you can say out loud

“What I’ve learned from Abbott is that her methodology isn’t just about observing trees — it’s about entering into a relationship with them. She uses sensory, embodied, and relational practices to show that knowledge comes from the encounter itself, not from standing outside it.”

Sarah Abbott's dedication to perceiving trees as relational beings rather than passive objects is the foundation of her analytical approach. Her work combines ontological attention, embodied observation, and sensory ethnography to create a research methodology that challenges the researcher to slow down, listen, and engage in a reciprocal encounter with the non-human world.

Abbott stresses techniques that highlight presence, atmosphere, and the nuanced forms of communication that emerge when people interact with trees through touch, movement, memory, and intuition rather than depending on remote description.

By focusing on how trees influence our emotions, perceptions, and spiritual experiences, she demonstrates how ethnography may become a place where human and nonhuman life meet on more equal terms.

Her approach frequently returns to the premise that knowledge arises via interaction. In this sense, her approach is more than simply a collection of methods; it is a philosophical position that opposes anthropocentric behaviors and encourages a more moral, responsive manner of knowing.

Public Ethnography

Abbott explicitly lists Public Ethnography as a core methodology.
It shapes her commitment to:

  • making research accessible to non-academic audiences

  • producing multimodal outputs (talks, workshops, film)

  • engaging ethically with communities (human and nonhuman)

Public ethnography also underpins her intended (but unfinished) ethnographic film.

2. Indigenous Research Methodologies

This is one of the most central methodological pillars. Abbott integrates:

  • self‑location

  • relational accountability

  • reciprocity (e.g., offering Tobacco)

  • respect for trees as persons/teachers

  • knowledge emerging through long-term, embodied experience

She identifies herself as an Indigenist researcher, aligning with Indigenous epistemologies even as a non‑Indigenous scholar.

3. Ontological Emergence Theory

This methodological lens frames trees as:

  • agentic, conscious, relational beings

  • entities whose ontologies emerge through interaction

  • participants rather than objects

This theory shapes how she interprets communication, presence, and relational becoming.

4. Entangled / Diffractive Methodologies

Drawing from Barad, Abbott uses:

  • entanglement as a methodological condition

  • diffraction to analyze differences emerging within relations

  • knowledge as something produced with the world, not about it

This is why she begins her synthesis “inside‑out,” starting with methods before theory.

5. Sensuous Scholarship

This methodology (from Vannini, Pink, etc.) emphasizes:

  • embodied, multisensory presence

  • attunement to atmospheres, affect, and subtle perception

  • non‑verbal, intuitive, experiential knowing

It is essential to her approach to tree communication.

6. Interspecies Communication Practices

Abbott treats tree–human communication as both:

  • a method (practical technique)

  • a methodology (epistemological stance)

This includes:

  • cultivating sensitivity

  • intuitive listening

  • embodied presence

  • learning communication techniques from “tree knowers”

She frames this as legitimate qualitative inquiry.

7. Ethnographic Film / Filmmaking Methodologies

Film is not just a method but a methodological stance:

  • filming with nonhumans

  • non-anthropocentric camera practices

  • ethical, relational, slow, attentive filming

This aligns with her chapter “Filming with Nonhumans.”

8. Plant Science as Methodological Integration

She explicitly names plant science as part of her methodological framework:

  • plant cognition

  • plant behavior

  • ecological and physiological knowledge

This supports her interdisciplinary approach.

🌱 In summary

Abbott’s methodologies are an interwoven bundle of:

  • Public ethnography

  • Indigenous research methodologies

  • Ontological emergence theory

  • Entangled/diffractive methodology

  • Sensuous scholarship

  • Interspecies communication practices

  • Ethnographic filmmaking

  • Plant science integration

All of these are explicitly named in the “Methodologies” section and throughout the Synthesis Paper.

Why Abbott’s dissertation is uniquely useful for your research project

1. Her methodology directly mirrors your own research approach

Abbott uses an interdisciplinary, relational, sensuous, and Indigenous-informed ethnographic framework. This is almost exactly the methodological constellation you’ve been building.

Her dissertation explicitly integrates:

  • Indigenous research methodologies

  • Public ethnography

  • Ontological emergence theory

  • Entangled/diffractive methods

  • Sensuous scholarship

  • Interspecies communication practices

  • Embodied, experiential fieldwork

  • Ethnographic film

These are the same frameworks you’ve been drawing from to analyze:

  • sensory/spiritual experiences with trees

  • relational ontology

  • embodied perception

  • multispecies ethnography

  • ethical, reciprocal engagement

So Abbott doesn’t just support your approach — she validates it.

2. She treats trees as participants, not objects — exactly what your project does

Abbott frames trees as:

  • agentic, conscious beings

  • participants in ethnographic encounters

  • entities with their own ontologies and lifeways

This is crucial because your interviews and sit-spot reflections also treat trees as:

  • communicative

  • relational

  • co-constituting meaning with humans

Her work gives you a scholarly precedent for taking tree agency seriously.

3. She uses embodied, sensory, experiential methods — a perfect match for your sit‑spot and interview data

Abbott’s methods include:

  • embodied observation

  • attunement practices

  • intuitive listening

  • sensory ethnography

  • interspecies communication workshops

Your project uses:

  • sit-spot sensory attunement

  • embodied interviews

  • spiritual and affective accounts of tree encounters

Her dissertation gives you a methodological vocabulary to legitimize and analyze your own embodied data.

4. She blends theory with lived experience — the same structure your findings require

Abbott moves fluidly between:

  • theory (Barad, Indigenous epistemologies, plant science)

  • lived encounters

  • participant stories

  • her own sensory experiences

Your project also needs to weave:

  • theoretical frameworks

  • interview narratives

  • your own embodied experiences

Her structure gives you a model for how to do this without losing academic rigor.

5. She explicitly addresses the ethical stakes of human–tree relations

Your research is deeply concerned with:

  • care

  • reciprocity

  • responsibility

  • decolonial ethics

  • environmental empathy

Abbott’s dissertation is grounded in:

  • Indigenous relational accountability

  • reciprocity (e.g., offering Tobacco)

  • ethical engagement with nonhumans

  • environmental empathy as a research goal

This makes her work a direct ethical companion to your own.

6. She provides language for describing nonhuman communication without anthropomorphism

You’ve been navigating:

  • how to talk about tree communication

  • how to avoid romanticizing or anthropomorphizing

  • how to respect participants’ spiritual experiences

Abbott offers:

  • careful definitions

  • grounded examples

  • methodological justification

  • scholarly framing

This helps you articulate your findings with precision and legitimacy.

7. Her dissertation is a rare example of ethnography with trees

There are very few academic works that:

  • center trees as interlocutors

  • use qualitative methods

  • integrate Indigenous and Western frameworks

  • foreground sensory and spiritual knowing

Your project sits in this same emerging field. Abbott gives you:

  • a precedent

  • a scholarly ally

  • a conceptual anchor

  • a methodological roadmap

In short

Abbott’s dissertation is useful to your research because it:

1. Mirrors your methodological approach
2. Validates treating trees as relational beings
3. Supports embodied, sensory, spiritual data
4. Models how to integrate theory + experience
5. Grounds your ethical commitments
6. Provides language for nonhuman communication
7. Sits in the same rare scholarly niche as your project

This is not just a relevant source — it’s one of the closest methodological and conceptual matches to your entire research design.