Shading Our Cities explores shade as essential urban infrastructure a practical, visible, and life-saving response to rising heat across Southern California and the Southwest. From street trees and parks to bus stops, schoolyards, sidewalks, and civic spaces, shade plays a critical role in public health, climate resilience, neighborhood comfort, and environmental equity. This symposium will bring together urban foresters, planners, designers, public health experts, community leaders, and municipal practitioners to examine how cities can plan, fund, plant, build, and maintain shade where it is needed most. Together, we will look beyond canopy goals alone and focus on the full shade system: climate-ready trees, built shade, community stewardship, policy, maintenance, and the partnerships required to create cooler, healthier, and more livable cities.
8:30 – Welcome and Introductions
Ernesto Macias, Tree Service Kings, Inc., STS President
8:35 – Welcome from The Huntington
Nicole Cavender, Telleen/Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens at The Huntington
8:45 – Shade, Stewardship, and Equity: Community-Based Urban Forestry in Southern California
Edith de Guzman, UCLA Department of Urban Planning
9:30 – Creating Livable Communities with Shade Infrastructure
V. Kelly Turner, PhD, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
10:15 – Break
10:30 – Growing the Urban Forest in Los Angeles: Practice, Place and People
Rachel Malarich, City of Los Angeles
11:20 – Combining Vegetative and Built Shade to Improve Comfort and Safety Where People Are: Projects, Processes, and Planning from the Hottest Large City in the U.S.
Mary Wright and Kyla Killoren, City of Phoenix
12:15 – Lunch Break
1:15 – From Permit to Planting: Moving Urban Forestry Projects Through Municipal Systems
Bryan Vejar, TreePeople
2:00 – From Planting Day to Living Shade: Field Practices for Young Tree Success
Danny Mahoney, West Coast Arborists, Inc.
2:45 – Panel: What Stops Shade from Happening?
Igor Lacan, PhD, University of California Cooperative Extension, Moderator
Rachel Malarich, City of Los Angeles, Panelist
Lucas Mitchell, City of Rancho Cucamonga, Panelist
Brian Widener, City of San Diego, Panelist
Mary Wright and Kayla Killoren, City of Phoenix, Panelists
3:15 – Wrap-Up and CEUs
The garden is open until 5:00pm - feel free to enjoy on your own.
PLEASE NOTE: A limited number of table top exhibits are available. Fee is $250.00 plus event registration - contact STS for more information or to reserve a spot. Representatives are required to register for the event.