ucfsociety.org 21
Our Summer with Urban
Forestry Intern Cesar Garcia
Story and photos by Ian Kesterson, Urban Forester, City of Berkeley, California and MFI 2022 Graduate
I have been exploring the tree canopy for 20
years—initially, as a climbing arborist. Twelve years
ago, I became an urban forester for the City of
Berkeley, California. My peak career experiences thus
far revolve around teaching tree planting to volun-
teers and working alongside new climbing arborists.
So, I was excited last year when our Director of Parks,
Recreation & Waterfront (PRW) pitched an idea for
a summer internship program with Berkeley High
School students. I pictured spending a summer with
a sidekick and growing the next arborist climber or
community building superstar. However, I learned
this internship program had a bigger picture in
mind—to create connections and opportuni-
ties for youth from underserved communities.
Our urban forestry intern, Cesar Garcia, was one of six
interns in the PRW department program. Once every
one to two weeks, the interns would come together to
meet with our director and another special guest, such
as a city council member or department head, to take
a larger view of how the City of Berkeley functions.
Over the ten summer weeks, the interns toured most
of the City parks and worked through a mock public
review process of a new park design, among other
activities. An important goal of these group intern days
was to create opportunities for additional connections
with our management team and elected officials.
To best use our ten summer weeks with Cesar, we pre-
planned a program curriculum. Our first idea was to
try to achieve certain key urban forestry skills. But
really, could we teach and train a competent arborist
in such a short program? It took me at least three
years to begin to understand how trees work.
Ultimately, we decided to focus on offering inspiration by
showing the wonders of the trees and an inside look at
all angles of urban forest management. While we were at
it, we could use our time among the trees to teach about
the bigger picture ideas. Because the urban forest touches
all corners of the City and interacts with all people in
some way, it offers a useful lens for a young person to
consider how they could grow into their future. >>
AX in TRAINING:
ucfsociety.org 21
