What is your interest and motivation in serving for LEAF as a board member?
I’ve had a long-standing interest in the core mission of LEAF. I first became interested in urban forests when the emerald ash borer became a major concern over 15 years ago. As a result of the borer, I witnessed the felling of my family’s old ash tree. This led to an awareness of the fragility of city forests and the continuous need to strengthen them.
I first learned about LEAF by attending an edible tree tour. The tour was a wonderful walk through the Riverdale neighborhood and introduced me to the abundance of food producing trees hidden in plain sight. This led me to volunteer with LEAF for a couple years and later to serve as a Board member to help LEAF in its core mission and continued success.
What experience do you bring?
I’m a qualified lawyer and bring 10 years of compliance experience in financial services. I currently work in regulatory compliance for a large bank where my day-to-day work involves interacting with a diverse range of Canadian and international stakeholders. These experiences have given me a good understanding of how an organization’s board of directors operates, how to conduct research, and how to manage competing and complementary priorities of different stakeholders.
What do you see as some of the most pressing issues facing urban forests?
Over the years I’ve become acutely aware of the many climate-related issues impacting the urban forest, including: tree damage from introduced pests (e.g., emerald ash borer, spongy moth, etc.); the introduction of non-native tree species that outcompete native species; and the changing climate that challenges the conditions under which native trees have evolved. Underpinning these issues is the need for education so that people can tackle these issues collectively and with the best knowledge available.
How do you see LEAF currently, or potentially, addressing some of these issues?
LEAF’s core strength in education and community engagement goes a long way in building the collective knowledge required to address the issues facing urban forests. Whether it is through the Tree Tenders Program, individual Tree Tours, or the organizations tree planting initiaitves, LEAF engages and educates the community in a multitude of ways. LEAF’s community-based approach is inspiring and I’m excited to contribute to LEAF’s continued success.
Erin MacDonald is the Acting Executive Director at LEAF.
Nick Charalambu is an Urban Forest Champion - someone who has made a positive impact on our urban forest through their professional, volunteer or personal efforts.
Read more our Urban Forest Champion blog series here.