Join local urban forestry, ecological restoration, and climate change mitigation practitioners for a two-hour workshop designed specifically for K through elementary school teachers, hosted by the Tacoma Tree Foundation with the support of Tacoma Creates. During this workshop, which will include an outdoor learning session, speakers will present on:
What is urban forestry and why it matters
What plants are good survivors in cities and why
Local native prairie habitats, tree ID, and green infrastructure
How to engage students on outdoor walks
Local climate change issues impacting our city and region
Speaker presentations are rooted in the Mystery Science, Next Generation Science Standards lessons. The goal of the workshop is to provide access to local knowledge about tree and native habitat science, and to questions specific to Tacoma about green infrastructure, engineering, and climate change.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the workshop, teachers will be able to enhance their science and engineering curriculum by integrating data and knowledge specific to our city and region so students can more directly connect their classroom to the neighborhoods where they learn and live.
Make sure to dress for outdoor and indoor activities.
This workshop is offered in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools.
Speaker Bios
Dan Nakamura - TTF Planting Specialist
In Hawaii, students are taught about mana, the Hawaiian word for energy and life source. And how this mana resides in everyone, everything, and everywhere. This mana can be good or bad, and we have the ability to make it better or worse through the choices we make.
Coming to Washington in 2012, I saw a difference in how people viewed the nature around where they lived. Wide grass lawns and large shrubs which took over the land were things not commonly seen in Hawaii. I always wondered why these spaces were underutilized and not filled in with native flora. What I learned was that most were not educated on the importance of native plants and how they can provide good mana to the places we live.
Through the Tacoma Tree Foundation, I aim to educate people in our neighborhoods the importance of native, and even some non-native plants, and how to take care of them. And one day I hope to help share the Indigenous people’s stories on these plants, in the same way native Hawaiians have shared their stories on the land and plants which they still reside on.
Lowell Wyse - TTF Executive director
After a career in higher education, I joined the Tacoma Tree Foundation team in 2021, first as a board member and then as a staff member. Since October 2021, I have served as Executive Director, which means I am in charge of the work we do to fulfill our mission as a community-based organization. Everywhere I go, I get to tell the story of how the people who love Tacoma are coming together to create a greener and more resilient urban area after enduring generations of environmental harm. On both sides of my family, I come from a long line of teachers and land stewards. My worldview is shaped by being a descendant both of Swiss-German Mennonite farmers who moved to Ohio’s Maumee Watershed seeking religious freedom and also of the Ojibwe people who continue to steward the lands and waters around Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. I grew up on our family farm in Michigan and have also lived in the Great Plains, the Hopi territory in northern Arizona, the Chicago metro area, and the Barranco neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Now I live and work in downtown Tacoma and volunteer on the Sustainable Tacoma Commission. I am deeply motivated by the values of community, justice, stewardship, resilience, storytelling, and placemaking. When I need to recharge, you might see me running with my dog in Point Defiance or surfing on the Northwest coast. Pronouns: he/him/his. Hablo español.
Zay Montejano - TTF Board Member
My first love of nature came from the open skies and lowlands of the Columbia Basin. Standing above the glacial-carved structures, overlooking waves of sagebrush and streams, I looked to the outdoors knowing there was so much beauty in this world. I moved to the Western side of Washington in 2015, and I fell in love with the forests, these giants amongst us.
It was during my service in the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) working on restoration projects that I found my true calling. I’ve never felt more at peace with myself than when my hands are in the dirt.
In moving to Tacoma in 2022, I was enamored by the pride and conviction of Tacoma residents in their city, and their community. I’d made it my home, and I believe that when you make a place your home, you have a duty to make that place better. I’m honored to continue my path of conservation within Tacoma’s urban forestry community, and I do it with joy and a smile. In my spare time I can be found shooting photography or catching a film at The Grand Cinema.