We’re excited to welcome Jonathan Cheney as our new Tree Care Specialist! Jonathan has a passion for trees and environmentalism and has worked in arboriculture for the past four years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from UMass-Amherst and certification from the International Society of Arboriculture. He is an experienced arborist, maintaining trees from the canopy to the roots. Jonathan was drawn to Speak For The Trees, Boston because he knew this was an opportunity to provide environmental justice to urban areas. He’s looking forward to helping the local community make a connection with their urban canopy. Jonathan will be joining our team on April 1. 

Mark your calendars for a memorable Community Celebration at the Edgewater Food Forest in Mattapan! Join us on Saturday, April 27, for a day filled with tree stories, food, music and fun. We will also be hosting our first FREE Tree Giveaway of 2024, where you can take home your very own tree to nurture and care for.

Come explore the food forest, connect with neighbors, and discover the power of green spaces. Let's grow together and cultivate a healthier, happier future for our community. Registration for the community event and for the Tree Giveaway will be forthcoming on our events calendar soon! 

Are you ready for Arbor Week? Join us for a week’s worth of tree celebrations from April 20 to 27. We will be hosting a variety of events ranging from book talks, to tree giveaways, to tree walks, to a movie screening! 

We are looking forward to this year's Arbor Week and hope you are too! Check out our events calendar and continue to check back as we will be updating it regularly.

We are launching a new program! Big Old Trees is a program that highlights old and unique trees around the areas of Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Mattapan, and Roxbury. The Big Old Trees project identifies, documents, and celebrates information about large older trees in the City of Boston that merit special recognition because of their age, size, form, and/or historical-cultural associations. 

Sometimes called Legacy Trees or Heritage Trees, these trees are generally significantly larger and older than the average trees in the landscape. Residents can nominate trees, public or privately owned, into the program if they want to show them some love. On the webpage that will be launching very soon, Big Old Trees features an interactive tree map highlighting all the trees documented to date around the five neighborhoods, an extensive tree database with statistics for each tree (height, diameter at breast height, location, etc.), a tree registry, and a nomination form attached for everyone to show some love to a Big Old Tree! 

Tell a friend and put in your tree nominations when the page goes live!

Boston residents are invited to enroll in our BRAND NEW Community Tree Keepers program, where you’ll not only learn about the importance and benefits trees bring, but also how to care for them so they continue to bring value to our community. Participants enroll in two 2-hour sessions to complete the Community Tree Keeper training, which is expected to start in April. The training includes tree identification, proper tree planting procedure, who to contact for all tree-related questions, and more. For more information and to sign up, please visit our Tree Keepers webpage.

Speak for the Trees is currently preparing for the upcoming Summer Teen Urban Tree Corps program and is excited to announce that our Team Leader application is live! Team Leaders are young adults, ages 19-24, who supervise youth participants in caring for Boston's tree canopy by engaging in tree identification, climbing, plantings, watering, and more. This is a temporary paid position of $20/hr for 30 hours a week. Team Leaders will work nine weeks from mid-June to mid-August, exact dates TBD. To apply, please send your resume and a cover letter, along with 3 professional references, to Joshua Reed, our Education Coordinator, at [email protected] and Jamila dePeiza-Kern, our Teen Urban Tree Corps Program Coordinator, at [email protected]. 

We are now welcoming Boston high-school-aged youth to apply to join as Summer Teen Urban Tree Corps (TUTC) program participants! TUTC participants will learn about the importance of urban trees and gain skills in urban forestry, including how to plant, care for, and advocate for trees. Participants will provide hands-on care to street trees and make connections in the world of urban forestry through various field trips and guest speakers. Participants will also assist Speak for the Trees to expand the watering program into a new community by sharing the skills and procedures involved with another youth-serving organization. The program will run from early July to mid-August, and participants will work 25 hours a week at $15 an hour. Apply to be a teen participant today.