The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast

Eliza Greenman is a tree crops specialist, horticultural historian, and agroforestry practitioner living in Northern Virginia. Her passion is in uncovering our Nation's horticultural tree crops history in order to identify, find, and save a diversity of endangered tree species and cultivars from disappearing. She believes that in giving these trees a human-scale purpose, they have a much better ch...

Ian Hanou is a trees and technology-loving entrepreneur with 20 years of private sector experience. He earned a B.S. in Forest Management and GIS from Colorado State University and founded PlanIT Geo in 2012. Ian is a thought leader in software design and geospatial analysis for urban forestry, green infrastructure, parks, and ecosystem services. He has led hundreds of projects with clients in gov...

Douglas Meney is the Director of Horticulture with the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), a position he has held since 2014. Mr. Meney serves as the principal Horticultural advisor to the Deputy Secretary for Overseas Operations and to the Superintendents of 26 permanent American military cemeteries and 32 federal memorials, monuments, and markers, located within 17 foreign countries. Th...

Amanda Benner is a Principal Program Manager for Vegetation Management at PECO, an Exelon Company, and lives in Philadelphia. Prior to joining the electric utility, she held non-profit leadership positions at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and was Executive Director at a community organization, UC Green. Her career includes positions in operations and project management at marketing and c...

Dan Herms is Vice President of Research and Development for The Davey Tree Expert Company.  Prior to joining Davey, Herms served on the faculty in the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University from 1997 to 2017, serving as Department Chair from 2012 to 2016.  His research and outreach programs focus on the ecology and management of trees in forests, urban forests, and ornamen...

Anthony (Tony) Aiello is Associate Director of Conservation, Plant Breeding, and Collections at Longwood Gardens, where he participates in tree conservation, plant exploration and evaluation, and collections development.  Previously he served for 22 years as the Gayle E. Maloney Director of Horticulture and Curator at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, where he managed th...

Zhaohua (Cindy) Cheng is a Ph. D. candidate in urban forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She has over five years of experience in community and youth engagement, climate change adaptation, student advising and engagement, and project management. Her Ph. D. research focuses on exploring urban forest-based solutions for climate resilience and urban livability.

Edward (Ned) Sibley Barnard was for 17 years senior staff editor and managing editor of Reader’s Digest General Books, where he oversaw the production of several dozen books that sold over one million copies each. From 1963 to 1967 he was project editor of a 15-volume ecology series, Our Living World of Nature , published jointly by McGraw-Hill and World Book Encyclopedia. He edited the volume on...

Erica Smith Fichman has spent her career connecting people with plants.  As the Community Forestry Manager at Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, she is the project lead for the Philly Tree Plan.  Erica also supervises the amazing TreePhilly team which provides Philadelphia residents with the resources they need to plant and care for trees in their own backyard.   She is an IS...

Joe Hansen is an ISA Certified Arborist Municipal Specialist, Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ), and holds numerous certifications through the Tree Care Industry Association including Certified Tree Care Safety Professional (CTSP), and is an Approved Instructor for the TCIA’s Tree Care Academy.  In his role as Urban Forester for the City of Park Ridge, Illinois, Joe is responsible for mai...

Steve Blaes holds degrees in sustainable horticulture and environmental science and has over 20 years of experience in the green industry. He has earned multiple green industry credentials, including the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional certification, the Landscape Contractors Association CLT in Ornamental Maintenance, and is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist...

Jake Handley was born in San Luis Obispo, California, and grew up in Eustis Florida where he received a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Central Florida.  After graduating from college he worked in the zip line industry for 5 years as a guide, trainer, and course builder.  He started his transition into the tree world in 2017 working for Asheville Arborists where h...

Dana Dentice is a Trees Program Manager and an ISA-certified arborist at PHS. She leads the Tree Tenders program (with now nearly 6000 graduates) to empower citizens to protect and expand tree canopy in communities across the Philadelphia region.  Dana collaborates with organizations and volunteers on planting 1500-2000 trees annually and engages them in follow-up stewardship programs, such a...

Jeffrey Ling is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist, registered consulting arborist, and senior consulting arborist in the state of Indiana. He is Secretary-Treasurer of the American Society of Consulting Arborists and currently serves as its co-liaison to the Council of Tree Landscape Appraisers. In Jeffrey’s hometown of New Haven, Indiana he serves as a member of t...

Jan Johnsen is a principal of the award-winning Johnsen Landscapes & Pools in New York, and an admired garden designer and author. She was the 2019 recipient of the prestigious ‘Award of Distinction' from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Her firm’s website is www.johnsenlandscapes.com Trained in landscape architecture and professional horticulture, Jan has worked in Japan,...

Dr. David Bengston is an Environmental Futurist and Social Scientist with the Strategic Foresight Group of the Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, and is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota where he teaches a seminar on environmental futures. Dr. Bengston has published more than 160 research publications, including papers...

Nate Shampine, CERP, is Mt. Cuba Center’s Natural Lands Manager responsible for implementing land conservation practices and developing healthy and functional ecosystems. He is a graduate of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner through the Society for Ecological Restoration. He is an adjunct professor at Temple University where h...

Brian “BK” Koehler has been the director of the Park Maintenance Institute since early 2020. BK holds degrees in Business Administration (BS), Parks and Recreation Administration (BS), and Experiential Education (MS). He is an experienced facilitator and event professional with an extensive background in teambuilding, ropes course / climbing tower construction, and outdoor adventure leadership. Be...

Linda Langelo is a Colorado State University Extension, Horticulture Agent. The five counties under her care are in Northeast Colorado. In 2020, a 100-year event called a derecho devastated the small towns of Akron and Haxtun. To help in the recovery of these towns, she sought to partner with the Colorado Forest Service Regional Education Coordinator, Donna Davis, and was able to secure funding fr...

Melissa Custic manages the Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI). The CRTI is a collaboration of regional partners working together to improve the health, diversity, and equity of trees in the seven-county Chicago Region. Melissa works closely with colleagues of partner institutions to increase canopy cover, reduce the presence of invasive species, and works to increase the preservation of oak ec...

Amber Grant is a Ph. D. Candidate (ABD) in the Environmental Applied Science and Management program at X* University (formerly known as Ryerson University). Her doctoral research focuses on examining environmental justice in urban forest management and decision-making in the United States. Most recently, Amber has been working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to investigate how environmental justice...

William Fuchs is the Head Gardener at Andalusia Historic House, Gardens, and Arboretum. William has worked in several positions at Andalusia over the last 22 years including 14 years as the Head Gardener. William came to Andalusia as an intern in 1998 while finishing his Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture at Temple University, Ambler campus. Before attending Temple, William received his As...

Mohamed M. Hassona is the Head Horticulturist at the Qur'anic Botanic Garden, the Qatar Foundation in Ar-Rayyan, Qatar. Hassona joined the Foundation in late 2010 to provide comprehensive horticultural support, direction, and expertise to initiate activities related to the development of the Qur'anic Botanic Garden’s initiatives on agriculture, horticulture, nursery production, and tree management...

Josh Behounek is the Business Development Manager with Davey Resource Group. Josh started his career as an inventory arborist working on many large-scale street tree inventories across the country. He then transferred to a Davey Residential and Commercial office in northwest Chicago, where he spent four years performing plant health care and climbing trees. In 2006, Josh transferred back to DRG, w...

Katie Dubow is president at Garden Media Group , a women-owned and run public relations firm specializing in the home and garden industry. Author of the annual Garden Trends Report, Dubow travels the world scouting and presenting garden trends to audiences from Italy to Chicago. Dubow is a guest host on QVC for Cottage Farms, judge at the Philadelphia Flower Show, the inaugural recipient of the Em...