i-Tree has launched a sleek and more streamlined home base on the world wide web! The Davey Institute and the USDA Forest Service are continuously updating information and data that i-Tree can deliver about tree canopy and benefits. Everything is still at the same address (www.itreetools.org) , and we’ve made it easier to navigate all of our web tools, resources and documentation (including new international translations!), and how communities are accessing the benefits of trees. If you haven’t already, go ahead and take it for a spin – see even more clearly the ways that i-Tree puts the power of your canopy right in the palm of your hands (sometimes even literally!).
Erika Teach teaching students how to enter data into i-Tree MyTree.
Erika Teach teaching students how to measure tree height.
Members of the i-Tree Tech Support team do more than answer questions and supply guidance to i-Tree software users. On occasion they also get to play outside, teaching young people software usage and how to measure trees. Recently team member Erika Teach spent some time with a group of Green Tech students participating in the Teaching Urban Forestry – Del Paso Heights (TUF-DPH) program. Green Tech is a local non-profit in Sacramento, CA, that provides quality workforce skills, education, and health strategies to high school students and young adults from economically disadvantaged communities. Through funding provided by the 2019 Social Equity Urban Forest Management grant from California ReLeaf, and Cal Fire’s California Climate Investments Forest Green House Gas reduction program, Green Tech is able to bring urban forest professionals from the Sacramento City Urban Forestry program, Sacramento Tree Foundation, and Davey Tree to teach young people about urban forestry. Green Tech students have learned about careers, volunteer opportunities, and internships within urban forestry as well as educational opportunities and skills applicable to urban forest professionals. Erika shared that "teaching students participating in programs such as Green Tech is one of the many reasons she likes working for Davey Tree."
I-Tree Research Suite has been introduced with the unveiling of the new i-Tree website. Research Suite is a collection of sophisticated models for technical experts. These models are components of research and development that generate results for core i-Tree tools. Free technical support is not offered for Research Suite as it is for i-Tree tools such as Eco and Hydro. For expert consultation with Research Suite tools, please reach out to info@itreetools.org to discuss options.
At this time only a small set of Research Suite tools are available. Later this year we plan to release additional models. Research Suite tools currently available are:
i-Tree Cool River: a mechanistic river temperature model coded in C++, simulating the effects of riparian shading and impervious runoff (Abdi & Endreny, 2019).
Tree Compensation Calculator: data tables and a calculator to estimate the number of trees (or monetary value) needed to compensate for the loss of a healthy tree of any size (Nowak & Aevermann, 2019).
As additional models move through peer-review and implementation, they will become available in Research Suite and announced in future newsletters.
