CommuniTree Research 
Understanding multi-organizational tree planting partnerships in Northwest Indiana

Project Personnel

​LUFA Personnel: Jess Vogt
Current students: Kristine Lorenzo, Peter Dziaba, Campbell
Former students: Nicole Puka, Lukas Gilkeson, Margaret Abood, Rebecca Brokaw, Kaitlyn Pike, Michael Rasmussen, Rasa Whittaker
Additional Collaborators​: Drew Hart (U.S. Forest Service), Joe Exl (Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission [NIRPC]), plus additional CommuniTree partners

Project Description

          CommuniTree is a new collaborative multi-organizational partnership in Northwest Indiana to plant trees in post-industrial communities in order to improve the local ecosystems and provide the benefits of trees to people. Starting with the work of Jess' ENV 261 Mixed Methods class in Spring 2017, LUFA has been collaborating with the U. S. Forest Service's Drew Hart and other CommuniTree partner organizations to evaluate the CommuniTree tree planting efforts. 
          Tree planting provides communities with many benefits such as shade, stormwater management, air pollution reduction, and even human health benefits. However, how the benefits of trees relate to the social dynamics of the communities in which trees are planted is just beginning to be understood. In order to make sure that initiatives like CommuniTree most benefit the communities they wish to serve, it is important to evaluate tree planting in the context of the goals and desires not just of formal project partners but also of residents of neighborhoods in which trees are being planted. Through this research, LUFA will implement a long-term, mixed methods, community-based research project that will use a surveys, interviews, and tree inventories to evaluate and improve the efficacy of tree planting as it provides benefits to Northwest Indiana communities.
Picture
Above: ENV 261 Mixed Methods class with some of the summer 2017 CommuniTree tree planting team, Tristian & Deshawn (in blue shirts)
Read more about the CommuniTree research  in the following blog posts:

Publications

          Titles link to full-text on ResearchGate or elsewhere where available.
Vogt J, Abood M (2021) The motivations, desired outcomes, and visions of partner organizations to Collective Impact tree planting: A transdisciplinary case study of CommuniTree in Northwest Indiana, U.S. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 127311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127311
Vogt J, Abood M (2020) A transdisciplinary, mixed methods research agenda for evaluating the collective impact approach for tree planting: The CommuniTree initiative in northwest Indiana, U.S. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 53(May), 126735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126735. 
Pike K, Brokaw R, Vogt J (2020) Motivations, environmental attitudes, and personal efficacy of volunteers at CommuniTree tree-planting events in Northwest Indiana, U.S. Cities and the Environment, 13(2): art. 2. https://doi.org/10.15365/cate.2020.130202

Presentations and Other Products

Vogt J (2020) DePaul CommuniTree Research. Presentation to the Urban Waters Partnership meeting, October 8, 2020 (remote meeting). [See a recording of the virtual presentation here.]
Abood M, Vogt J (2018) CommuniTree: Stakeholder relationships and desired outcomes for collaborative tree planting. International Society of Arboriculture 2018 International Conference & Trade Show, August 5-8, 2018, Columbus, Ohio. (Poster presentation by Margaret Abood)
Vogt J, Abood M, Hart D, Brokaw R (2018) CommuniTree: Partnerships for tree planting and research in Northwest Indiana. International Society of Arboriculture 2018 International Conference & Trade Show, August 5-8, 2018, Columbus, Ohio. (Oral presentation by Jess Vogt & Margaret Abood)
Vogt J, Abood M, Brokaw R, Rasmussen M (2018) CommuniTree: Transdisciplinary research to evaluate the social and environmental outcomes of a boundary-spanning tree-planting partnership. Boundary spanning: Advances in socio-environmental systems research, An international symposium, a meeting of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), June 11-13, 2018, Annapolis, Maryland. (Poster presentation by Jess Vogt)
Vogt J (2018) CommuniTree: Partnerships for Tree Planting & Research. 2018 International Seminar on Urban Forestry, United States Forest Service International Programs Office, June 5, 2018, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, Illinois. (Presentation by Jess Vogt)
Brokaw R, Vogt J (2018) Self-reported environmental knowledge and personal efficacy of volunteers at tree planting events in Northwest Indiana. Environmental Science & Studies Annual Showcase, June 1, 2018, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. (Poster presentation by Rebecca Brokaw)
Brokaw R, Abood M, Vogt J (2017) CommuniTree program evaluation: Understanding multi-organizational partnership for planting trees in underserved communities in Northwest Indiana. DePaul University 15th Annual Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Technology Undergraduate Research Showcase, November 3, 2017, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.  (Poster presented by Rebecca Brokaw)

Data Collection Instruments

Funding

Support for this project has been provided by:

1110 West Belden Avenue Chicago Illinois 60614
DePaul University
Department of Environmental Science & Studies
env.depaul.edu
Site last updated: August 9, 2018.