Tree University: Why Urban Foresters Do the Things They Do and How You Can Help

Drew Todd

Why do cities do the things they do to enhance our urban trees? Central Ohio municipal tree care programs manage public trees, but what can volunteers, students, and Master Gardens can do to help?

Join us for this 1-hour webinar on this topic that discusses how Ohio's urban forestry evolved, tree selection, planting, care, and much more.

Drew Todd, formally Ohio’s Urban Forestry Coordinator, worked for 33 years with ODNR as a Regional Urban Forester before becoming the City of Hilliard's City Forester from 2013-2019. In this role, he assisted in preparing and overseeing tree maintenance, removal, and planting contracts, trained city crews in arboriculture, inspected high risk trees, addressed residents’ tree-related questions and concerns, updated and maintained a master street tree planting plan, and guided the city’s volunteer shade tree commission.

In 1994, Drew was President of the Ohio Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. Now retired, Drew sits on the Grandview Heights Landscape Advisory Committee and the ODNR Division of Forestry's Urban Forestry Advisory Commission Forest Strike Team. Drew was awarded a Lorax Award for "Speaking for the Trees" by Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens in April, 2021.