February 14, 2023
Season 2 Episode 2
Urban Tree Canopy
Plant a tree, save a life!
Yes friends, it really is that easy. Geoffrey Donovan sat down with us to talk urban tree canopy. Shade isn’t the only thing these magnificent tools of planning do for us. There isn’t a single tool in our figurative tool box that does more to benefit our citizens and communities than trees. Don’t believe that? Well then, listen to Mr. Donovan and learn a thing or two. When you’re done, read his magnificent research!
OUR GUEST
Dr. Donovan received his PhD in Forest Economics from Colorado State University in 2001. Since then, he has worked as an economist for the USDA Forest Service in Alaska and Oregon. His primary research focus is quantifying the benefits of urban trees. These have ranged from intuitive benefits—reduced summertime cooling costs and increased home values, for example—to less intuitive benefits such as crime reduction. He has worked extensively on the relationship between trees and public health, finding that mothers with trees around their homes are less likely to have underweight babies, and when trees are killed by an invasive pest, more people die from cardiovascular and lower-respiratory diseases. Currently, he is focusing on how exposure to plant diversity may protect against a range of immune diseases.
Check out his extensive list of published research papers here: Geoffrey Donovan | US Forest Service Research and Development (usda.gov)
THE podcast
THE WHISKEY PAIRING
Commissioner Danley has selected a whiskey that is named after a majestic tree species whose mission is to plant more trees using the proceeds from the sale of their product.
Noble Oak
