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VAN ALEN INSTITUTE PROJECT IN PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE

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Carbon Sequestration in Cities: What is the role of an urban forest?

Wednesday, February 25, 6:30-8:30pm
at Van Alen Institute

Join a discussion about macro-scale urban forestry initiatives with Jennifer Greenfeld, Director of Street Tree Planting at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and New York Prize Fellow Denise Hoffman Brandt.

Jennifer Greenfeld has worked at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation in the Central Forestry & Horticulture Division for the past twelve years. A graduate of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Greenfeld manages a wide variety of community forestry programs and currently runs what is arguably the largest street tree planting program in the nation, planting a record 23,700 trees in 2008 as part of MillionTreesNYC and Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030.

Denise Hoffman Brandt is principal of Hoffman Brandt Landscape Architects and a professor at the City College of New York School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. While in residence as a New York Prize Fellow, Hoffman Brandt continues her research into the potentials for carbon sequestration within New York City’s urban substrate and seeks to reframe urban planting as an ecologically operative program rather than a scenographic device.

Greenfeld and Hoffman Brandt will present their work and initiate an open dialogue with Van Alen Institute members and fellows, challenging the common notion of the city as 'unnatural' and encouraging a lively debate about the impact of the urban forest on land use, infrastructure, and environmental sustainability in New York City.

This program is part of a monthly series dedicated specifically to the Institute’s community members and fellows. The format and scale of these evenings are designed to encourage open and informal dialogue about topics and issues related to ongoing research at the Institute, with public architecture always at the heart of the discussion.

This event is limited to Van Alen Institute members and their guests; RSVP to rvsp@vanalen.org by Tuesday, February 24. If you are not a member and would like to participate in this program and other future membership programs, JOIN ONLINE or call (212) 924-7000 x12 for more information.

BIOS

Jennifer Greenfeld
For the past twelve years, Jennifer Greenfeld has worked at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation in the Central Forestry & Horticulture Division. A graduate of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Ms. Greenfeld spent three years working in Washington DC coordinating riparian reforestation projects, writing forestry education materials, and directing a utility funded tree planting program. Before heading to New York City, she also spent three years in San Francisco working for an open space protection and urban planning non-profit. At Parks, Ms. Greenfeld served as Director of the New York Tree Trust, and is now the Director of Street Tree Planting. Ms. Greenfeld manages a wide variety of community forestry programs--planting thousands of trees, recruiting volunteer tree stewards, and rescuing trees from strangling tree guards and small tree pits. She managed the 2006-2007 street tree census, created the Trees for Public Health program, developed forestry management plans for community parks, and coordinated a mortality study of 40,000 recently planted trees. Currently, she manages what is arguably the largest street tree planting program in the nation, planting a record 23,700 trees in 2008 as part of MillionTreesNYC and Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030.

Denise Hoffman Brandt
Denise Hoffman Brandt is principal of Hoffman Brandt Landscape Architects and a professor of Landscape Architecture at the City College of New York School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. Her work focuses on landscape design as a means for environmental sustainability, and she has been involved in numerous public design projects including the landscape plan for the Queens Museum of Art and the master plan of the New York Hall of Science, which received a Design Excellence award from the Art Commission of the City of New York. Hoffman Brandt has previously worked as Senior Landscape Architect at Matthews Nielsen and as Project Landscape Architect at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. She holds an MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

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