Category Archives

Habitat Restoration

Join the Effort: Enhancing Tree Equity in Indianapolis

Posted by: Benjamin Shine
Posted: June 7, 2024
Categories: Community Forestry, Education, Engaged Citizens, Habitat Restoration, Partners, Research & Data, Trees and Native Habitats

If you could plant 3,000 trees anywhere in the City, where would you plant them? And, why? This is the question Keep Indianapolis Beautiful is faced with answering each year. We know trees provide incredible benefits like cooling our neighborhoods and reducing air conditioning costs, while also soaking up stormwater to prevent street flooding. With […]

Meet our Urban Naturalists!

Posted by: Benjamin Shine
Posted: May 28, 2024
Categories: AES Indiana Project Greenspace, Community Forestry, Engaged Citizens, Habitat Restoration, Trees and Native Habitats, Uncategorized, Urban Naturalists

Summer is around the corner, which means its time to welcome our newest team members: our Urban Naturalists! This year’s Urban Naturalists (UNs) represent four universities and will spend the next few months doing meaningful, environmental work for our city while engaging neighbors in community-based environmental stewardship. What kind of work exactly? The Urban Naturalists […]

Rooted in Passion: How YTT Shaped Cullen’s Career Path

Posted by: Benjamin Shine
Posted: February 1, 2024
Categories: Community Forestry, Education, Engaged Citizens, Habitat Restoration, Trees and Native Habitats, Youth Tree Team

Meet Cullen Booth! A force of green goodness, Cullen embarked on his journey with the Youth Tree Team (YTT) back in 2014. From pruning crew to leader, Cullen’s YTT adventure molded him into the environmental champion he is today. Now living in Indianapolis with his partner, Cullen rocks his role as a Natural Resources Technician, […]

From Indiana to Florida: Post-Grad Adventures from an Urban Naturalist

Posted by: Benjamin Shine
Posted:
Categories: Education, Engaged Citizens, Habitat Restoration, Trees and Native Habitats, Urban Naturalists

Anna Hopkins has taken her love for the outdoors from the heart of Indianapolis to the sunny landscapes of Tallahassee, Florida. After graduating from IU, she swapped the desk job for boots on the ground as an Event Coordinator at a state park, later transitioning to her current role as a Regional Coordinator for the […]

Bridging Cities and Nature as an Urban Naturalist

Posted by: Benjamin Shine
Posted: January 29, 2024
Categories: AES Indiana Project Greenspace, Community Forestry, Education, Engaged Citizens, Habitat Restoration, Trees and Native Habitats, Uncategorized, Urban Naturalists

Sydney Geckler is currently pursuing her fifth (and final!) year of Urban Planning at the University of Cincinnati. Over the last five years, her journey has been filled with growth, exploration, and passion… a lot of which stemmed from the Urban Naturalist program! As an alum, she was able to not only expand her knowledge […]

Branching Out: From YTT Leader to Environmental Trailblazer

Posted by: Benjamin Shine
Posted: January 23, 2024
Categories: Community Forestry, Engaged Citizens, Habitat Restoration, Trees and Native Habitats, Uncategorized, Youth Tree Team

Meet Ann Young, a passionate Indy resident with a unique blend of interests in conservation biology, ecology, and art history. Originally from Texas, Ann moved to Indiana almost three years ago. Her biology degree was one of the many things that made her interested in applying for the Youth Tree Team (YTT) program. From gaining […]

Trees for the Next 200 Years

Posted by: Jeremy Kranowitz
Posted: October 26, 2020
Categories: Habitat Restoration

“THE BEST TIME TO PLANT A TREE WAS 20 YEARS AGO, THE NEXT BEST TIME IS TODAY.” I was reminded of that saying this weekend for a couple of reasons. First, my daughter Eden turned 20 years old this weekend. It seems like just yesterday when she was a tiny sapling I could cradle on […]

A KIB Friendly Lawn

Posted by: Jeremy Kranowitz
Posted: May 26, 2020
Categories: Habitat Restoration

A friend of KIB recently asked me to weigh in on “natural” lawn services and offer an opinion on whether this was a preferable option to traditional lawn care companies. While I had my own thoughts, I also checked in with the very knowledgeable Native Landscapes team, who spend their days creating vibrant green spaces […]

Take a Break: Pausing for Pollinators

Posted by: Jeremy Kranowitz
Posted: December 6, 2018
Categories: Habitat Restoration

Maria Stahl works for The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Many thanks to Maria and her co-works for adding to our pollinator count. Friday morning I took a break from my normal routine and counted bees […]

Native Plants: Sustaining the Circle of Life

Posted by: Jeremy Kranowitz
Posted:
Categories: Habitat Restoration

Katie Owens is a member of the 2016 Urban Naturalist Program. She is studying Environmental Science and Journalism at Indiana University. As a part of the Urban Naturalist team, Katie has the opportunity to work on a variety of green-job inspired projects while tending to Indy’s native landscape. They say man has been altering the […]