City Trees

I'm an arborist who loves all aspect of horticulture, but I am moving into urban forestry, so for me, MFI 2022 was life-changing. At MFI, I was surrounded by people who are already in urban forestry or affiliated positions, and I felt so completely at home—like "this is where I'm meant to be." I will admit that I had a little bit of impostor syn- drome at the very beginning, but it quickly melted away and I truly felt that I was in the company of my peers. At MFI, I made connections that have already enhanced my professional life; for instance, arborist, fellow MFI 2022 grad and new friend Brandon Scott Elrod has engaged me to work with him and others on the Spanish language committee (Arboleros.org) for the Western Chapter of ISA. This is important to me, because part of my personal mission is to bring other Latinos in arbori- culture—and horticulture more broadly—along in their professional advancement, as we are seriously under- represented on the management side of things. Brandon also invited me to join the Community Forests Council that he founded. Jonathan Ferrante, with the City of Cupertino, California, has also been a great help to me. I was born into horticulture. I grew up in the South Bay region of western Los Angeles County. My father had (and still has) a gardening route on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, all the way to Santa Monica. Every weekend, holiday, and summer break, from the age of 14, I was working on the route with my old man. When you're young, you want to sleep in and watch cartoons, but as I got into high school I real- ized that my parents were instilling in me a valuable work ethic that has served me well. Being immersed in gardening and landscaping—those were my play- grounds, truly. I was a plant nerd from early on. After high school I got my certificate of Environmental Horticulture from Camino College. That, along with my work experience, helped me get hired at UCLA doing grounds work when I was 24. That was a great build- ing-block experience and was around the time that I realized I was more drawn to tree work, both for financial reasons and because of the overwhelmingly important role trees play in the environment. I was hired at Cal Poly Pomona to be an arborist but I am also in charge of a 17-acre (6.9 ha) area that includes all types of vegetation including trees, shrubs, turf, and even a community vegetable garden. I really feel invested in the health of the plants in this parcel of land, and my work is interesting: no two days are ever the same. I enjoy my work a great deal and at the same time, I'm fortunate that the Senior Assistant Vice President for Facilities at Cal Poly Pomona is a big believer in professional development. He says things along the lines of, "We're here to help build people, and if we can't keep up with the trajectory of your career, that's on us." So with the support of my boss, in the last few months alone, I've attended MFI and earned my Qualified Applicators License and Tree Risk Assessment José Mireles 20 CityTREES José Mireles (left) from Cal Poly Pomona visits with Adam Cohen from New York City Parks and Recreation. Photo by Owen Croy

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