Hello and welcome to the Maxwell Institute podcast, where we seek out faith illuminating scholarship.

I'm Rosalind Welch, Associate Director at the Institute. This season, we're exploring the questions we should be

asking. Thanks for joining us. How can we best care for the beautiful planet God has given us

for our home? And why do our relationships with other humans matter so much in the work of

stewardship and conservation? Today on the podcast I talk to

Ben Abbott, a professor of plant and wildlife sciences at BYU. As a scientist, Ben specializes in

ecosystem ecology, the complex ways that living and non-living components interact in a given place.

But he's found that his work as a teacher and a mentor has shaped his research as much or more than his rugged field work.

In the April 2000 conference, President Nelson said,

As beneficiaries of the divine creation, what shall we do?

We should care for the earth, be wise stewards over it, and preserve it for future generations.

Ben has spent his career figuring out how to do just that, from the permafrost in delicate Arctic

landscapes to the lakes that preserve

precious water in the western United States.

Ben and I talked about when he first became passionate about conservation as a child, how

he brings repentance into the laboratory in the field, and why his shift to real-world

problems and student-driven research

has been so fruitful.

Ben has an optimistic and humble approach to science and to the gospel that I think you'll

love.

Thanks for joining us today, and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Ben Abbott.

Today, you're with Ben Abbott, who's a professor of ecosystem ecology at Brigham Young

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