Project Personnel
LUFA Personnel: Jess Vogt, Camila Cortez, Annalise Nordgren
Former students: Jaclyn Meyers
Additional Collaborators: Al DeReu (Openlands), Dr. Lynne Westphal (U.S. Forest Service)
Former students: Jaclyn Meyers
Additional Collaborators: Al DeReu (Openlands), Dr. Lynne Westphal (U.S. Forest Service)
Project Description
Individuals volunteer for myriad reasons, including to learn new knowledge or skills, for social interaction, and because volunteering activities align with personal values. In the Chicago region, the Openlands TreeKeepers program has been engaging volunteers in urban forest stewardship since 1991. Over 2,000 individuals have taken the course on tree planting and care and passed a written exam and pruning practicum to become certified TreeKeepers. Early in TreeKeepers’ history, Westphal (1993) conducted a survey and found that the “emotional, aesthetic, and psychological values of trees” motivated volunteers. Our current TreeKeepers research helps us understand the motivations for initial involvement and continued engagement in the program. We used an online survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews with TreeKeepers at all involvement levels to examine the following research questions:
Because of the closed-ended nature of online surveys, insights on other barriers to continued engagement were limited. Thus, we developed a qualitative, semi-structured interview script and interviewed both highly involved and not involved long-time and newly-certified TreeKeepers. Interviews are presently being conducted by Camila Cortez as part of her senior thesis project, and insights will be forthcoming spring 2021 (Cortez et al.). This research will inform the future evolution of the TreeKeepers program, can help other urban forestry organizations with similar programs, as well as help urban greening professionals understand how to motivate urban environmental stewardship more broadly.
- Why and how do individuals become initially involved with the TreeKeepers certification program?
- Once individuals are TreeKeepers, what are their motivations for and barriers to continued engagement with the TreeKeepers program?
Because of the closed-ended nature of online surveys, insights on other barriers to continued engagement were limited. Thus, we developed a qualitative, semi-structured interview script and interviewed both highly involved and not involved long-time and newly-certified TreeKeepers. Interviews are presently being conducted by Camila Cortez as part of her senior thesis project, and insights will be forthcoming spring 2021 (Cortez et al.). This research will inform the future evolution of the TreeKeepers program, can help other urban forestry organizations with similar programs, as well as help urban greening professionals understand how to motivate urban environmental stewardship more broadly.
Products, Presentations, & Publications
Cortez C, Vogt J, Westphal LM (In progress) Digging deeper into TreeKeeper motivations. [Manuscript in progress]
Nordgren A, Cortez C, Westphal LM, DeReu A, Vogt J (In preparation) Why be a TreeKeeper? Understanding the nature of involvement and continued engagement of volunteer urban forestry stewards. [Manuscript in preparation]
Vogt J, Nordgren A, Cortez C, DeReu A, Westphal, LM, Meyers J, (Accepted) Why be a TreeKeeper? Research on volunteer urban forestry stewards. International Society of Arboriculture 2020 Annual International Conference & Trade Show, December 7-11, 2020, Virtual Conference. [Presentation] [See slides here]
Vogt J (2020) Motivations and mechanisms for urban ecological stewardship: Examining the CommuniTree and TreeKeepers programs. Ecology and Evolution Seminar Series, February 25, 2020, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. [Presentation]