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sustainability scientist | teacher-scholar | changemaker |
Dr. Jess Vogt |
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Associate Professor, Environmental Science & Studies, College of Science and Health, DePaul University
Jess received her PhD, MPA, and MSES from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana), and her B.A. in biology and environmental studies from Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisconsin). As leader of LUFA, she studies tree planting, neighborhoods, and urban social-ecological systems through the lens of sustainability science. She's also heavily involved in urban forestry locally, serving as President of the Urban Forestry Advisory Board for the City of Chicago, and on the Steering Committee for the CommuniTree Initiative of Northwest Indiana. She is passionate about creating spaces in which everyone can find their place to contribute to creating a world where all can thrive and flourish. Her quest is to answer the question, How can we create more resilient communities of humans and nature?
Education
- Ph.D. Environmental Science (2014), School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), Indiana University, Bloomington
- MPA in Sustainability & Sustainable Development (2012), School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), Indiana University, Bloomington
- M.S. in Environmental Science in Applied Ecology (2012), School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), Indiana University, Bloomington
- B.A. in Biology, Environmental Science (2009), Lawrence University (LU)
Professional Activities
- President (2025-present) and former Vice President (2023-2024), Urban Forestry Advisory Board, City of Chicago
- Steering Committee Member (2022-present) and Strategic Planning lead (2024), CommuniTree Initiative of Northwest Indiana
- 2018 Recipient, Early Career Scientist Award, International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)
- Former Chair (2019-2021) & Vice Chair (2017-2019), Science & Research Committee (SRC), International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)
- Former Associate Editor for the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening (2015-2020)
- Former Subject Editor for Urban Forestry & Arboriculture for the journal Forestry (2015-2019)
- Early Career Research Fellow (2015), Future Earth
Previous Research
Since graduate school, Jess has also been a researcher with the Bloomington Urban Forestry Research Group (BUFRG) at Indiana University. BUFRG studies urban forestry and urban ecosystems through the lens of social-ecological systems. For the past several years, BUFRG has been examining the social and ecological impact of the coproduction of the urban forest by nonprofit organizations and neighborhood groups in 5 U.S. cities (Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and St. Louis), funded by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service National Urban and Community Advisory Council (NUCFAC; see project webpage here). Jess has continued this research at DePaul via the LUFA project on Motivations & Mechanisms of Neighborhood Tree Planting.
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* What is a "Human Card"? Human Cards are a way of expressing our true humanity as whole people when we meet one another. The idea was created by my friend and colleague Gabriel Grant. For more information, see the Human Cards website.
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Jess, climbing a tree in DePaul's quad, with her AQ17 ENV 341 Urban Forests class. Staff from Davey Tree Company annually join the class to teach tree climbing techniques and share with students what it's like to work for an urban forest and arboriculture company. In the picture, the class is joined by Eduardo Medina (far left back row in neon yellow), Mark Noark (far right in green), and Katrina Baltes (far left front row kneeling in white).
