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Our Roots Research
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Project Personnel
LUFA Personnel: Jess Vogt, Sydney Bosley, Meg Bradshaw, Lindsey Williams
Project Description
Chicago’s tree canopy coverage is just 18%, much lower than the national average. Our Roots, a 2022 initiative of the City of Chicago, aims to plant 75,000 new trees in 5 years, equitably expanding Chicago’s tree canopy by planting street trees in the parkway public right-of-way in low canopy, high non-White, low income, high asthma, high need neighborhoods or equity areas. The Tree Ambassadors program run by the Morton Arboretum trains community organizations to identify tree planting locations, engage with residents, and submit to 311 requests for street trees to be planted by the City.
LUFA is conducting several parallel research projects to assess the success rate of parkway trees planted through Our Roots.
1- & 2-Year Survival Rates & Tree Condition: In the summer of 2024, ENV student Sydney Bosley inventoried a sample of ~1,200 parkway trees planted in 2022 and 2023 and ran regression models to predict tree survival and condition. We observed that trees in equity areas, trees planted in a tree lawn, and trees planted later in the year had higher survival rates. We also observed that presence of damage, planting in 2023 (as opposed to 2022), and planting later in the year decreased tree condition, while the presence of protective black corrugated piping around the base of the trunk – even if this piping was filled with mulch, soil, or other debris – increased condition. These results show that equitable planting with engagement of grassroots community groups can lead to higher tree survival in the crucial early years after transplanting. This research has been presented at the 2025 "Trees in the City" sessions at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) annual meeting in Detroit, Michigan. We have also presented to the City stakeholders, including the City of Chicago Urban Forestry Advisory Board (UFAB) - see the Results Summary below - and the City's Tree Equity Working Group of the Our Roots program. We are currently writing up the results to submit for publication.
LUFA is conducting several parallel research projects to assess the success rate of parkway trees planted through Our Roots.
1- & 2-Year Survival Rates & Tree Condition: In the summer of 2024, ENV student Sydney Bosley inventoried a sample of ~1,200 parkway trees planted in 2022 and 2023 and ran regression models to predict tree survival and condition. We observed that trees in equity areas, trees planted in a tree lawn, and trees planted later in the year had higher survival rates. We also observed that presence of damage, planting in 2023 (as opposed to 2022), and planting later in the year decreased tree condition, while the presence of protective black corrugated piping around the base of the trunk – even if this piping was filled with mulch, soil, or other debris – increased condition. These results show that equitable planting with engagement of grassroots community groups can lead to higher tree survival in the crucial early years after transplanting. This research has been presented at the 2025 "Trees in the City" sessions at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) annual meeting in Detroit, Michigan. We have also presented to the City stakeholders, including the City of Chicago Urban Forestry Advisory Board (UFAB) - see the Results Summary below - and the City's Tree Equity Working Group of the Our Roots program. We are currently writing up the results to submit for publication.
Our Roots High & Low Survival Case Studies: In 2025, ENV student Meg Bradshaw is developing a follow-up to the Bosley survival and condition study described above to examine equity areas with particularly high or low survival rates and see what we can learn about the details of these areas.
2- & 3-Year Survival Rates & Survivorship Curves: In the summer of 2025, ENV student Lindsey Williams will be conducting a repeat inventory of the ~1200 trees inventoried by Sydney Bosley in 2024 to obtain longitudinal data and gain further insights into the environmental factors influencing tree survival during the establishment phase and 2-year warranty period of contractor-planted City parkway trees.
Tree Ambassadors Program Survey: ENV student Sam Walczewski and Jess Vogt are working with staff at the Tree Ambassadors Program (TAP) run by the Morton Arboretum to design and conduct a survey of TAP participants to assess motivations for participation.
2- & 3-Year Survival Rates & Survivorship Curves: In the summer of 2025, ENV student Lindsey Williams will be conducting a repeat inventory of the ~1200 trees inventoried by Sydney Bosley in 2024 to obtain longitudinal data and gain further insights into the environmental factors influencing tree survival during the establishment phase and 2-year warranty period of contractor-planted City parkway trees.
Tree Ambassadors Program Survey: ENV student Sam Walczewski and Jess Vogt are working with staff at the Tree Ambassadors Program (TAP) run by the Morton Arboretum to design and conduct a survey of TAP participants to assess motivations for participation.
Products, Presentations, & Publications
2025. Bosley S, Vogt J. Evaluating Our Roots Chicago, an equity-based tree-planting program: Survival & condition of recently planted trees. “Trees in the City” sessions, 2025 Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, March 25-28, 2025, Detroit, Michigan ((& Virtual). [In-person presentation.]
2024. Bosley S, Vogt J. Evaluating Our Roots Chicago, an equity-based tree-planting program: Survival & condition of recently planted trees. DePaul University 22nd Annual Undergraduate Research STEAM Showcase, November 1, 2024. (Poster)
2023. Bosley S, Vogt J. Help me design my thesis project: Proposed analysis of Chicago Our Roots street trees. DePaul University 21stAnnual Undergraduate Research STEM Showcase, November 3, 2023. (Poster)
2024. Bosley S, Vogt J. Evaluating Our Roots Chicago, an equity-based tree-planting program: Survival & condition of recently planted trees. DePaul University 22nd Annual Undergraduate Research STEAM Showcase, November 1, 2024. (Poster)
2023. Bosley S, Vogt J. Help me design my thesis project: Proposed analysis of Chicago Our Roots street trees. DePaul University 21stAnnual Undergraduate Research STEM Showcase, November 3, 2023. (Poster)
Grants & Funding Support
- Undergraduate Summer Research Program (USRP) grant (student: Sydney Bosley; faculty advisor: Jess Vogt) to support the student’s B.S. thesis research, “How do social-ecological factors affect the success of Chicago Our Roots street trees?” (College of Science and Health, DePaul University: $2,133 [15 hrs/week for 9 weeks]). Summer 2024.
- University Research Council Research Leave Grant (faculty: Jess Vogt) to support 2 quarters of paid research leave to work on the “Understanding polycentric governance of Chicagoland urban forests” project (DePaul University: paid research leave granted for AQ23 & WQ24). 2023.
