City Trees

12 City Trees the most. There were subtle hints that we were elbowing our way onto someone else's turf. At the Conference we also organized an urban environmental art exhibit as part of the event. We'd never done anything like that before, but we brought together a great group of women and made it happen! This experience affirmed my creative drive to share stories that I'm passionate about. For me, this meant creating communication outlets using pho- tography and films to share messag- es to wide audiences. Examples of this for me include Limbwalkers and Partners in Action: A Shade Policy for the City of Toronto, which won the Canadian Dermatology Public Education Award in 2014. 6) Job shadowing: During my under- graduate years, I worked at Concordia University's Counseling & Development Department, where job -shadowing coordination was one of the services we offered. It was a great way for young people to see the daily reality of a career they were interested in pursuing. Even if job shadowing is not available in a formal sense, contacting people who you respect in the field and asking for an informational interview is also beneficial. In my experience, most people will give you half an hour of their time. 7) Attend conferences and work- shops: Whether you're a participant or a speaker, these events are great networking opportunities. A recent survey on LinkedIn showed that over 70% of jobs are obtained through networking. I have developed a wide national and international network of personal and professional con- tacts from attending events and speaking to people about their work and interests. The Canadian Urban Forest Conference is an example of a national event with great network- ing possibilities. It's held every two years, and the next one will be in Vancouver, BC, in 2018 as part of a larger international urban forest congress. Get involved! curriculum, navigate and develop policy, negotiate par tnerships, and foster creativity. I would have never learned any of these had I suc- cumbed to the initial hesitation and fear of the unknown. 2) Talk to everyone: Seek out women and supportive male colleagues to inspire you and learn from. Speaking to as many people as possible offers insights from diverse perspectives. With Tree Canada, I manage the Canadian Urban Forest Network, Strategy, and Conference. Successes over the past three years have includ- ed fostering greater learning both nationally and internationally, provid- ing multiple opportunities for people to come together, and building a national urban forestry community in which people feel heard. 3) Practice effective dialogue: Listen to what others are saying to under- stand where they are coming from before passing judgment. Listening intently to people with an open mind does not mean you need to agree with them. However, their perspec- tive may shed some insight on your own biases. 4) Get comfortable being uncomfort- able. Step out of the things that are familiar—this is how you will grow. Being at York in a PhD program gave me the language to ground certain concepts in theoretical frameworks like social constructions and political ecology. It was here that I learned to question everything and in par- ticular, my own biases. I learned to become more self-reflective and this has helped to shape my research and ideas about urban forestry prac- tice. 5) Do what you love and follow your instincts: Do what you love even if people try to discourage you. Just because someone says you can't do something doesn't mean it's true. When my colleague and I were orga- nizing the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference we were met with strong opposition from the very people we thought would support us

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