How did you come to urban forestry,
and what have been some of your
peak experiences along the way?
Could you talk about your urban
forestry research and writing?
GSS: I became an urban forester because of my job
as a paid community forestry intern with the Urban
Resources Initiative in New Haven, Connecticut. This
practical experience more than any academic training
set me on the urban forestry path. I was an intern in
the organization's Community Greenspace program
where I provided technical resources to seven com-
munity groups in the Newhallville neighborhoods.
The projects undertaken by the groups I worked
with ranged from planting street trees on a
block to converting an abandoned house lot
into a bird sanctuary. I can honestly say that
but for this rigorous and fun experience I would
not have applied to and been offered the job
as urban forester for the City of Boston.
I returned to graduate school after working for
the Boston Parks and Recreation Department
for a few years. At UC Berkeley, my dissertation
research was focused on how and why municipal
agencies and nonprofits were reframing trees as
ecological agents versus the conventional aesthetic
narrative. I am proud of my first authored paper
based on my dissertation which was published
in 2013 in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.
A few years ago I became incredibly interested in
spontaneous vegetation—aka weeds in cities. On
social media I began following artists and land-
scape designers who were weedy species advocates
and delineating their values to urban ecosystems
particularly in light of the changing ecological
dynamics wrought by climate change. I wrote two
papers on this topic. The first one was a case study
of the grassroots community science of sponta-
neous plant research and activism. The second was
a profile and interview with Ellie Irons and Anne
Percoco, founders of the Next Epoch Seed Library.
I've fallen for birds, and have been fortunate to
write about my budding birding experiences for
Audubon and Popular Science. If I might recommend
my favorite article: it is this article I wrote about
patch birding published on audubon.org. I con-
sider myself a patch birder of Washington Square
Park. The Park is where I bird most often and is
where I am honing my skills as a bird watcher. >>
Patch birding is birding in a specific spot.
In her audobon.org article, Georgia
says that patch birding has given her
insight on how birds choose habitat;
helped her anticipate bird behavior;
and made her a better birder by ear.
14 CityTREES
