S7E2: “Trees Don’t Make Cities Livable. They Make Cities Survivable.” — Why Urban Trees Are Public Health Infrastructure with Dr. Geoffrey Donovan of Ash and Elm Consulting

About this episode

The episode discusses the critical health benefits of urban trees with Dr. Geoffrey Donovan, emphasizing their role in public health infrastructure.

There's a reason people write poetry about trees and not speed bumps. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Geoffrey Donovan — forest economist, 23-year USDA Forest Service researcher, and founder of Ash and Elm Consulting — about why the health benefits of urban trees dwarf every other benefit we talk about, and why most people still don't believe it. We get into the emerald ash borer study that produced the headline "when trees die, people die," the Portland research showing the inverse — tree planting linked to decreased cardiovascular mortality — and why the strongest evidence sits at both ends of life: babies born heavier when mothers live near tree canopy, and people living longer in greener neighborhoods. We also talk about biodiversity and immune development, including Geof's studies linking genus-level plant diversity to lower rates of childhood asthma and leukemia, why peak exposure to grayness may be a risk factor for ADHD, and what a pregnant woman can actually do with all of this research. The conversation ends where I think the field needs to go: science-based storytelling, why Geof reads Seamus Heaney to audiences after the graphs, and why trees don't make…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Nadina Galle

Guest: Dr. Geoffrey Donovan

Topics covered

• urban trees
• public health
• biodiversity
• cardiovascular mortality
• childhood asthma
• environmental health

Keywords

• urban trees
• public health
• cardiovascular mortality
• biodiversity
• childhood asthma
• environmental health
• emerald ash borer
• grayness exposure
• Seamus Heaney

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USDA Forest Service, Ash and Elm Consulting

Books & works: Seamus Heaney

Places: Portland

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