I've always been really invested in protecting the environment around me, but I think trees are one of the best ways that we can improve, climate change at a local level.

I mean, climate change is a is a is a global problem, but decreasing carbon emissions a lot of times starts at at the root of the problem, which is trees.

trees are the solution.

Plants are the solution because plants consume carbon dioxide.

So one tree by itself is not going to save the whole city, but by planting a tree, you're adding to the overall picture of the urban forest and the overall benefits that that urban forest provides.

Every tree counts.

I’m interning at the Department of Urban Forestry with the city of Evansville.

but also working on a project where I do a canopy assessment working on a project where I do a canopy assessment for the city of Evansville.

and then also plant 100 to 120 trees in underserved areas in Evansville.

and of course, there are areas that are more concrete than green.

Unfortunately, and in those areas, we want to try to get more trees planted because we need more canopy to help cool our climate, to help provide We're actually weighting things like, stormwater draining, urban heat island.

Also socio demographic factors like, educational attainment, race, and annual income.

And so we're weighting all of that into one map, which will be a priority planting map.

heat island map that you look at, the city of Evansville or Wesselman Woods is cooling down a big portion of the east side of Evansville.

And this speaks to the importance of having green spaces and pocket forest throughout, not just Evansville, but any city.

Wesselman Woods is the largest urban old growth forest in the United States.

I like to say that this is the Mona Lisa of ecosystems.

This is a rare space with an incredible, incredible amount of biodiversity.

And we are just so fortunate to have it right here in the middle of Evansville.

we're very fortunate to be working with the city of Evansville to reforest about 45 acres and the former par three golf course in Westerman Park.

And in those 75 acres, it's going to be years and decades of tree growth.

and with all that tree growth is carbon, right?

We know that trees need carbon to survive, and so they sequester carbon.

and over the years and years and decades, there's going to be carbon that is stored within the trees.

There's going to be carbon that's stored within the soil.

And as that forest matures, we can just, you know, we can we can imagine that there's more and more carbon that's going to be stored, making this place, even more important than it is today.

In our region, we know we have a lot of work to do to increase our urban canopy.

We're fortunate to have Wesselman Woods providing a lot of that urban canopy.

but we still need to do a lot more work in many different areas of our city, our county and just the region in general of increasing our, our, I think one of the best ways for people to, sort of have grassroots climate action is to get involved with their local community.

And a lot of times that starts at the neighborhood.

and so getting involved with your neighborhood association, I think is a really good way.