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CommuniTree Research
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Project Personnel
LUFA Personnel: Jess Vogt, Kaitlyn Pike, Margaret Abood, Rebecca Brokaw
Additional Collaborators: Drew Hart (U.S. Forest Service)
Additional Collaborators: Drew Hart (U.S. Forest Service)
Project Description
The SQ17 ENV 261 Mixed Methods class with some of the summer 2017 CommuniTree tree planting team, Tristian & Deshawn (in blue shirts)
Project 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 is collaborating with the U. S. Forest Service's Drew Hart 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 door-to-door household survey, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, resident focus groups, and a tree re-inventory to evaluate and improve the efficacy of tree planting as it provides benefits to underserved Northwest Indiana communities.
Data collection will begin in Summer 2017, so check back soon for project updates!
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 door-to-door household survey, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, resident focus groups, and a tree re-inventory to evaluate and improve the efficacy of tree planting as it provides benefits to underserved Northwest Indiana communities.
Data collection will begin in Summer 2017, so check back soon for project updates!
Products, Presentations, & Publications
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)
Funding
Internal Funding:
- DePaul University College of Science and Health Research and Faculty Development Committee Faculty Summer Research Program (FSRP) - P.I.: Jess Vogt: $4,500 summer salary + $800 student travel support (2018)
- DePaul University College of Science and Health Undergraduate Research Assistantship Program (URAP) - P.I.: Jess Vogt; Student: Margaret Abood: $1,650 (2018)
- DePaul University Research Council Competitive Research Grant (CRG) - P.I.: Jess Vogt: $3,476 (2018-2019)
- DePaul University Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning & Community Service Studies - P.I.: Jess Vogt: $875.50 (2017)
