Spent the afternoon at the #itcc #isa tree climbing competition in Hagley park. Incredible vibe and athleticism from the world's best arborists in town ahead of the international society of arboriculture conference.

Is it silly to think that New Zealand's science funding changes may yield too much influence to one person? newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/16/f...

Today #ucnz is hosting careers advisors from across the country and my research group is telling them all about how we use remote sensing to measure and monitor forests. We use drones equipped with laser scanners, multispectral sensors, and thermal sensors to understand forest dynamics.

My university, #ucnz, is putting on a series of really interesting talks at this annual Raising the Bar event. Grab a coffee, pint, wine, or cocktail at your local and hear 20 leading academics talk about AI, penguins, space tourism, and more. www.rtbevent.com/rtbchch2025

Had a really nice chat with Mihingarangi Forbes this morning on RNZ about NZ's urban forests and the importance of trees and greenspaces for wellbeing. www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

I was so lucky to spend a week with the @irssubc.bsky.social on their annual research retreat on Vancouver Island. They're such a fun, smart, and inspiring group.

One of the best parts of my job...getting to congratulate my PhD students on submitting their thesis after years of hard work. Congrats to Joe Zhao (not on bsky) on his amazing work using deep learning for tree crown delineation and species detection in cities.

For the local Christchurch folks, our tree cover target is 20% by 2070...an increase from the current 13.5%. It's a well thought out target that is achievable, but will need consistent resource allocation for new planting and maintenance/protection of existing trees.

Many cities have tree cover targets, used to support an increase in canopy and the benefits trees provide. But how are those targets set? Are they rational, aspirational, delusional? Our study of 57 cities worldwide found evidence off all three... authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... #urbanforests

As promised, here's the first trees and cities manuscript. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S.... Here's what we learned: 1. Residential intensification contributes to loss of tree canopy. 2. Residential infill leads to less tree cover loss than other forms of intensification. 3. But...

Two manuscripts accepted for publication today. Surprised? You bet. Hope you people like science about trees and cities.

Thrilled that our urban tree cover work is leading to meaningful change. We provided 75 cities in NZ with an estimate of their tree cover and just a week later one town is looking at changing their Tree Policy to increase its canopy cover. www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

Nice write-up by Will Harvie summarising the tree cover in Canterbury cities and towns. www.thepress.co.nz/environment/...

How leafy 🌳 is your hometown? We've estimated tree canopy cover for 75 cities and towns in NZ. Picton is NZ's leafiest city with nearly 60% tree cover, while Hāwera has only 7%. www.canterbury.ac.nz/news-and-eve...

This sets a dangerous precedent. Removing healthy established trees from public land because they aren't native and might cause future infrastructure damage...yikes! www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

I get that people have views on trees near their homes, but saying the Council urban forestry team "haven't thought this through at all" is a stretch! People would be shocked at how much thought goes into every tree planted in NZ cities.

Dear Sarah from Papakura, rats and wasps will love your idea of fruit trees along streets, but the rotting fruit, pruning, and spraying requirements for a healthy horticultural crop won't make you happy. Enjoy your Sweetgum...it really is a lovely street tree. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

What a day to 🚲 to work...forecast tailwinds both ways!

Out with my forestry science students, learning about foraging from the incomparable Peter Langlands. Lots of edible and poisonous mushrooms in Hanmer with the recent rains.

Not sure if I've got any followers involved in NZ housing, but if so, my PhD student Dave Pedley has an online survey about the management of trees in housing intensification projects and the use of incentives to support the retention of existing trees. canterbury.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

I nodded so much reading this article,I think I injured my neck. So very relatable for many working in academia.

A colleague of mine once said we need to earn the student commute with the quality of our lectures. I think about that a lot. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

✅ More housing ❎ Landscaping I wonder if the consented plans showed some nice leafy green trees and, if so, what happened to them?

Urban trees have got it tough. Here's a row of 8 tulip trees (tulip poplar in eastern North America) planted on the same day on a low-use path. 3 are doing well, 3 are dead or gone, 1 is just barely hanging on, and 1 was snapped in half, but recovering well. From West to East, here's the first 4...

This is almost certainly a case of planting up the easy places first. But as @alexbozikovic.bsky.social points out, urban trees are needed where people work, play, and live. So do the easy planting, there'll be broad benefits, but don't forget the hard places where trees best benefit city dwellers.

Love Ben's enthusiasm for urban trees...they really do make an incredible difference to thermal comfort in our cities. Some cool research has recently come out of Belgium showing that tree type/configuration affects temperatures differently during days and nights. doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

When you're looking to understand urban forest ecosystem services, i-Tree Eco models are the industry standard. We're looking to extend their utility by integrating remote sensing into the data collection process doi.org/10.1016/j.uf... #urbanforestry #ecosystemservices

Vowing to never again lead a large team of co-authors to write a manuscript. Sure, the different perspectives and knowledge exchange are unbeatable...but it also means I have to spend hours entering each author's details into Elsevier's Editorial Manager web submission portal hellscape #academicsky

I don't hate it...

Mine's windier...

A good colleague of mine is retiring soon and is slowly emptying out his office. I managed to grab this great old book for my collection.

With places like this on our doorsteps, it's easy to see why greenspaces reduce depressive symptoms in adults in New Zealand. This study, using 40 years of health data, does a deep dive into the relationship between urban greenspaces and mental health doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

Guess what I'm doing today... #plantsci #plantscience #academicsky

First meeting of the day at the botanic gardens #academiclife

Incredible day for bees and people alike in Christchurch, NZ.

Bees are loving the NZ Christmas tree (Metrosideros spp.)

When did journals start providing so many reviews for submitted manuscripts? I'm aware of 1 manuscript with 5 sets of reviewer comments! 5! #academicsky #academicchatter

Have just heard that the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, Judith Collins has announced that the Marsden Fund will no longer support humanities and social sciences. Feeling frustrated for great colleagues who specialise in those critical areas.

This combines three things Im enthusiastic about, trees 🌲, trains 🚂, and Christmas 🎅

Great talk by Zoe Avery, focusing on soil to improve biodiversity and urban forest outcomes in our cities.

Checking out tonight's Christchurch Conversations by Te Pūtahi

Good start to the day, chatting with the Pūtaringamotu Riccarton Bush ranger about long term environmental monitoring in the 600 year old kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) forest.

These 100+ year old poplars next to a busy children's playground in ChCh, New Zealand have been assessed as unsafe and will be removed. Urban forestry has to balance the benefits and risks of urban trees www.facebook.com/share/p/QcqA... #urbanforestry #urbanforests #arboriculture

This is my favourite tennis court in ChCh. Surrounded by houses and trees, wonky in places, but always available.

Bought this used greenhouse last weekend, dismantled it, and hoping to get it installed at my place this weekend.

Took my students out for our final field trip of the year. Checked out the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and had a tour from Director Wolfgang Bopp.

Amazing morning out with the legendary Peter Langlands and my 1st year forestry students to learn about foraging.

Great to see the council undertaking this riparian naturalisation project in Hagley Park. newsline.ccc.govt.nz/news/story/s...

I'm supervising the outstanding Gunjan Sharma's PhD research. She is looking at how we can use lidar to help value the ecosystem services provided by Christchurch's urban trees. I spoke with Will Harvie about that research last week www.thepress.co.nz/environment/...

Seeing Salvador Rueda speak about #superblocks. Thanks to Te Pūtahi and ChCh city Council for hosting and sponsoring world class public talks.