Community Partner: Tree Baltimore Peer Mentor: Claire Gray Site Supervisors: Ted Martello
What is Tree Baltimore? TreeBaltimore strives to increase the urban tree canopy through the establishment, management, and preservation of trees. To reach our goal of 40 % tree canopy cover by 2037, we partner with individual homeowners as well as communities, schools, and businesses.
" This summer I had the opportunity to work at TreeBaltimore. Since you don’ t plant trees in the summer, I helped launch a StoryMap for their website. TreeBaltimore already has a notable tree map which highlights the city’ s biggest, historic, and otherwise notable trees, but I was tasked with creating a map of trees loved by city residents for any reason. I spent my time traveling to different parks and forests, meeting with people and seeing some really cool trees. Meeting with residents on-site was one of the most exciting parts of my job. I realized how many different reasons a tree could be someone’ s favorite. Some spoke of the trees’ resilience, how the trees had been through storms, lost limbs, or were nicked by a car or two daily but still survive. Others commented on the beauty of a specific tree, whether it be the way the leaves look like lace or the way the bark appears golden after rain. Others described the ability of trees to build community pride and bring neighborhoods together, through annual festivals or collective stewardship.
I’ ve never had as much personal agency in a job before, and I was definitely initially out of my comfort zone. In past jobs I was always really good at just following directions, getting my work done, and being a reliable team member, but this summer a lot of my work required some semblance of independence and creativity. I tried my hardest and definitely learned a lot, and am grateful for the opportunity to work at TreeBaltimore, and for everyone I met for making it a great experience. Coming out of this I definitely know way more about trees, recognize their importance as a public utility, and understand how trees can keep us grounded in our community."-Claire
• Created an interactive StoryMap for TreeBaltimore’ s website of our city’ s notable trees as well as community members’ favorite trees
• Met with folks at parks, gardens, and forests, where they shared stories about their favorite trees to be added to the map
• Located and measured new state and city champion trees with the Maryland Big Tree Program
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