The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast

Episode 209 - Nicole Walker author of How to Plant a Billion Trees.

Nicole Walker is the author of several books including Howto Plant a Billion Trees: A Memoir of Childhood Trauma and the Healing Power of Nature, Sustainability: A Love Story, and The After – Normal: Brief, Alphabetical Essays on a Changing Planet, along with many other noted titles. She has written several pieces for The New York Times and is a recognized author in several editions of Best American Essays. Sheedits the Crux, the literary nonfiction series at University of Georgia Press and teaches creative writing at Northern Arizona University where she serves as Writer-in-Residence for the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society.

Episode 208 - Rob Shaut is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Casey Trees a Washington, DC-based non-profit.  And special guest co-host Lou Meyer of The Davey Tree Expert Company.

Rob Shaut is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Casey Trees a Washington, DC-based non-profit. He was formerly the Tree Operations Director, managing a 30-person team responsible for planting 7,000 plus trees per year, while maintaining thousands more annually throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Rob also oversees the Casey Tree Farm, Education, Policy and Land Conservation, Development, and Communications departments. He is a Certified Arborist® through the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and he is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified.   Rob holds a certification from the Professional Horticulture Program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Science degree in BusinessManagement from Clemson University and Rob has studied at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, in the UK. (ISA Cert. MA-6185A)  Lou Meyer began his Arboricultural journey in Cincinnati back in 2001 when he needed a summer job.Over the years he has worked in residential and commercial tree care, residential and commercial landscaping, and utility Arboriculture in Ohio and Maryland, where he currently resides. After working for a few smaller operations, Lou joined Davey Tree in 2013. He earned his ISA Arborist certification in 2014, and since then he has earned his Municipal and UtilitySpecialist Certs along with becoming TRAQ certified. Lou has served on the boards of the Mid Atlantic Chapter of the ISA and the Maryland Arborist Association. He lives in Ellicott City, just west of Baltimore, with his wife Molly and two children, Louie and Maggie. His favorite tree (this week ) is a white oak.

Episode 207 - A farewell to Hal Rosner, co-host to The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast

Hal Rosner has been the co-host of The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast since its founding in 2020. Hal brought his decades ofknowledge in the tree industry to the podcast. He partnered in finding guests, read their books and researched their backgrounds, created questions, and brought his keen wit and sense of humor to the interviews. Hal will be missed but we know that he will be successful in his future endeavors here and around the world as he continues to share his amazing energy through his Mindfulness Practices and tree knowledge to his local community through Tree Tenders®. We know that our paths will cross again as he makes thenew changes in his life.  Good Luck and All the Best Hal, Eva Monheim and AndrewMonheim at AndromiDen Recordings.

Episode 206 - Ashley Beckwith is the founder and CEO of Foray Bioscience

Ashley Beckwith is the founder and CEO of Foray Bioscience, where she and her team leverage plant cell culture to createpredictable access to the plants and plant products the world needs, by growing them from the cell up. Ashley’s path into the world of plants has been a curious one. She holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and hasbeen innovating at the intersection of biology, materials, and manufacturing for over a decade. Her award-winning Ph.D. research led to the first demonstration of lab-grown “wood”, combining principles of tissue engineering and plant culture to grow structured plant materials in the lab. Now, Ashley leads Foray’s team of plant biologists, process engineers, software developers, and machine learningexperts to make plant cell and tissue culture predictable and accessible for applications from micropropagation to fabricated seed production.

Episode 205 - Orsolya (Orsi) Lazar is an urban forester and an ISA Certified Arborist.

Orsolya (Orsi) Lazar is an urban forester, an ISA Certified Arborist and a Pennsylvania (PA) Certified Horticulturalist in Sustainable Landscapes. Her unconventional path to forestry began with a Master’s Degree in Ecology and a Master’s Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. She has over 20 years of experience in landscape design and management, project management, and education. Orsi became the first Community Tree Specialist at Pennsylvania DCNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. She helps shape this growing program to better serve communities by building trust, identifying opportunities, and finding creative solutions to challenges.  She works with municipalities and non-profits toincrease tree benefits, manage costs and risks, and creates green spaces that suit people’s needs. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association and is in the group that is working on updating the PA Certified Horticulturist study manual. Orsi has taught gardening and tree care for diverse audiences, including workforce developmentprograms.  Many local parks have benefited from her technical assistance and plant donations. She created a tree inventory and installed hundreds ofbotanical signs at Merion Botanical Park as a pro bono contribution to her own community. Her “Responsible Gardening” Facebook group helps local gardenersconnect and share sustainable, evidence-based practices. When not in the garden or a park, she enjoys teaching tricks to her border collie or is on the dance floor practicing ballroom and Latin dancing.