Suzanne Simard (born 1960)[3] is a Canadian forestry scientist and conservationist who is best known for her research on forest ecology and plant intelligence.

[7] After growing up in the Monashee Mountains, British Columbia,[3][8][9] she received her PhD in Forest Sciences at Oregon State University.

[7] Simard is also a leader of TerreWEB, an initiative set to train graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in global change science and its communication.

She asserts that trees (and other plants) exchange sugars through their respective root systems and through interconnected fungal mycelial structures to share (and at times trade) micronutrients.

The benefit "of this cooperative underground economy appears to be better over-all health, more total photosynthesis, and greater resilience in the face of disturbance".

[26][27] Simard's work was referenced in Season 2, Episode 11 of the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso when Coach Beard says: "You know, we used to believe that trees competed with each other for light.

In 2022 Simard appeared as a panelist in Canada Reads, advocating for Clayton Thomas-Müller's book Life in the City of Dirty Water.