July-September, 2025 Big congratulations to Ph.D. student Xiaoyue for her review paper entitled "A Systematic Review of the Cooling Effects of Urban Forests" has been accepted by Arboriculture & Urban Forestry! Good job!!! Dr. Chen attended the 1890 Multistate Integrated Project Adverse Weather Fall Meeting in Atlanta and shared TSU's project progress with colleagues from other 1890 universities.
Welcome Sydney again as a Dean's Scholar to our lab! April-June, 2025 Big congratulations to both Diksha and Xiaoyue, first two graduate students in our lab, for successfully defending their theses!!!
Good news: Sydney and Todd, Our Urban Forestry Ambassadors, have found their summer internships to continue their work on urban forestry and environmental science.
Dr. Chen delivered an oral presentation entitled "Recycling Urban Stormwater Runoff Using Nature-based and Engineering Solutions" at the 2025 Tennessee Water Resources Symposium.
Wonderful news: We are thrilled to announce that the Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab in the Department of Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture at Tennessee State University is now open! We are very excited about potential research and education opportunities that this lab will provide to our students, collaborators, and stakeholders.
Our urban forestry ambassador Todd made a poster presentation on "Expanding Urban Tree Canopy in Nashville: A Targeted Approach" at the MANRRS 39th Annual Training Conference and Career Expo.
Big congratulations to Diksha who has won the First Place Award at the Graduate Student Oral Presentation Competition at the 47th Annual University-Wide Research Symposium.
The Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab was well represented at the 47th Annual Tennessee State University-Wide Research Symposium:
Graduate student Diksha made an oral presentation on "Effects of Soil Management Practices on Rehabilitating Compacted Urban Soils".
Undergraduate student Sydney made a poster presentation on "The Potential of Transforming Vacant/Underutilized Lands into Urban Green Space in Nashville, Tennessee Based on a Targeted Spatial Analysis".
Undergraduate student Todd made a poster presentation on "Recycling Urban Stormwater with Trees".
Dr. Chen made an oral presentation on "Rebuilding Soils to Sequester Carbon in Cities" at the 2025 TSU UTIA Research Summit.
Dr. Chen delivered two invited talks entitled "Urban Forests, Climate Change, and Environmental Justice from an International Perspective" and "15 Years of Soil Restoration Work" at the 2025 WAA/WIDNR Annual Conference.
October-December, 2024 Good news, Dr. Chen received a $1,200,000 grant award from 1890 Universities Foundation to conducted a project entitled "Rooted in Urban Forestry: Enhancing and Monitoring Heat-Related Health, Environmental Justice, and Workforce Diversity in 1890 Land Grant Communities".
The Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab was well represented at the 2024 Trees In the City Virtual Symposium:
Postdoc Chen made an oral presentation entitled "Quantifying the Effects of Urban Forests on Climate and Hydrology Using a Land Surface Model: A Case Study in Nashville, TN".
Graduate student Diksha made an oral presentation entitled "The Preliminary Results of the Effects of Urban Soil Management Practices on Soil Properties, Tree Growth, and Long-Term Ecosystem Services".
Graduate student Xiaoyue made an oral presentation entitled "More Trees, Cooler Cities? Exploring the Cooling Effect of Urban Forests at Parking Lots in Summer".
July-September, 2024 Dr. Chen delivered an invited talk on "Trees and Soils in the City — From a Community Perspective" at the Vanderbilt Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Seminar Fall 2024.
Dr. Chen made a presentation entitled "Soils, and Cities in the Context of Climate Change" at the Tennessee State University Department of Environmental Sciences Seminar Fall 2024.
Dr. Chen did an oral presentation on "Long-term Effects of Urban Soil Rehabilitation on Tree Growth" at the ISA 2024 Annual Conference.
Dr. Chen presented "How Extension Agents Think about Urban Forestry in Tennessee?" at the 2024 TSUTIA Research Summit.
Dr. Chen delivered an invited talk entitled "Healthy Soils for Healthy Trees" at the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council Urban Forestry Webinar Series.
April-June, 2024
Good news: Dr. Chen received a $500,000 grant award from USDA-NIFA, Capacity Building Grant to conduct a project entitled "Growing Future Climate-Resilient Urban Forests from An Equity Perspective".
Dr. Chen delivered an invited talk entitled "Urban Forests, Climate Change, and Equity" at the XIII Americas Latino Eco Festival: The Giving Tree Equity Summit.
Big congratulations to Diksha who has won the First Place Award at the Graduate Student Poster Presentation Competition at the 46th Annual University-Wide Research Symposium.
The Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab was well represented at the ARD Research Symposium 2024:
Undergraduate student Aria made a poster presentation: The Benefits of Tennessee’s Urban Forests: A Systematic Review.
Graduate student Diksha made a poster presentation: The Impact of Urban Soil Management on Tree Growth and Long-term Ecosystem Services: A Systematic Review.
Graduate student Diksha made a poster presentation: More Trees, Cooler Cities? A Systematic Review of the Cooling Effects of Urban Forests.
Dr. Chen made an oral presentation: Extension Agents and Urban Forestry in Tennessee: Perceptions, Practices, and the Need for Training.
January-March, 2024 The Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab was well represented at the 46th Annual Tennessee State University-Wide Research Symposium:
Postdoc Chen made a poster presentation: Modeling the Effects of Urban Forests on Climate and Hydrology: Current Status and Future Directions.
Graduate student Diksha made a poster presentation: A Systematic Review of the Influence of Urban Soil Management on Tree Growth and Long-term Ecosystem Services.
Graduate student Xiaoyue made a poster presentation: A Systematic Review of the Cooling Effects of Urban Forests.
Welcome NEW M.S. student Donna to the Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab!
October-December, 2023 In collaboration with City of Nashville Metro Water Services, we launched Nashville Long-term Urban Soil Rehabilitation Site which will provide numerous research, education, and extension opportunities to our faculty, student, and community members.
Dr. Chen has been appointed as a Academic Coordinator for our NEW Department of Environmental Sciences.
Dr. Chen delivered an oral presentation entitled "Extension Agents’ Perceptions, Practices, and Needs of Urban Forestry" at 2023 ISA Virtual Event. Virtual.
Dr. Chen co-organized and served as the virtual moderator for "Exploring Soil Testing Methods That Inspire Community Engagement with Urban Soil Science Workshop" at the 2023 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting. She also made an oral presentation of "The Effects of Fifteen Years Urban Soil Rehabilitation on Soil Carbon Storage and Tree Growth".
Welcome NEW postdoctoral researcher Dr. Chen Wang to the Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab!
NEW publication alert: Extension Agents’ Perceptions, Practices, and Needs of Urban Forestry: A Case Study from Tennessee, United States (www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/21/15328).
Dr. Chen delivered an oral presentation entitled "How Do Non-traditional Urban Forestry Educators Think, Practice, and Need Urban Forestry? A Case Study from Tennessee" at the 2nd Annual Virtual Trees in the City Symposium.
Dr. Chen attended the 2nd World Forum on Urban Forests in Washington D.C. and chaired the Session 1.5 "Breathless: How urban forests and trees can contribute to the reduction of air, water and soil pollution".
July-September, 2023 Welcome NEW M.S. students Diksha and Xiaoyue to the Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab!
Good news: Dr. Chen has been selected as the Vice President of Arboriculture Research and Education Academy (AREA).
April-June, 2023 Good News: We received a grant award from the Dan & Margaret Maddox Fund to Assess TSU Student Career Goals and Needs in Urban Forestry!
January-March, 2023 Aria made a poster presentation of "The Benefits of Urban Forests in Tennessee" at the 45th Annual Tennessee State University-wide Research Symposium. And it was well received.
Dr. Chen is co-reaching AGSC 3340 Natural Resource and Management this semester.
October-December, 2022 Dr. Chen delivered an invited talk of "Green and Brown Infrastructure in the City: A Community-based Urban Soil Initiative from Los Angeles" in the "Session SY45A: Green and Blue Justice: Interdisciplinary, Cross-Sector, and Public-Private Environmental Research for an Inclusive Future" at AGU 2022 Annual Meeting.
Dr. Chen did a poster presentation of "Urban Soil Best Management Practices for Climate Resilience" at 2022 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings in Baltimore, MD.
Good news: We received a grant award from the USDA Forest Service to explore "The Benefits of Urban Forestry to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change in the Southern United States".
July-September, 2022 Dr. Chen made an oral presentation of "Trees and Soils in the City: Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities" at Trees In The City Virtual Symposium.
Two high school students, Jaden Jackman and Lamar Prince from Georgia, worked with Dr. Chen and other forestry faculty on urban forests, heat island effects, and environmental justice through the Summer Apprentice Program this summer.
Dr. Chen made a poster presentation on "Urban Green Space, Soils, and Community Needs: A Case Study from Los Angeles" at the Urban Tree Diversity 4 (UTD4) Conference.
Aria Mcelroy joined the Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab as a Dean's Scholar.
Dr. Chen started teaching her first class, AGSC 5500 Environmental Issues and Sustainability, at TSU.
April-June, 2022 Dr. Chen made a presentation on "Building Soils for Circular Cities" at the Circular City Week New York 2022's event of "Waste2Soils - Optimizing the Urban Waste Stream to Create Soils and Capture Carbon". See here for the recording.
Dr. Chen delivered a guest lecture on "Trees: Nature-Based Solutions for Cities" at the Urban WildF.I.R.E. workshop organized by Michigan State University.
Dr. Chen did a guest lecture on "Trees in the City " in the Introduction to Environmental Science II (AGSC 2401) class and co-organized a campus Tree Tour as part of the Earth Day celebration at TSU.
Dr. Chen made her first departmental presentation on "Building Community From the Ground Up: A Case Study From Los Angeles" at the Spring 2022 DAES Seminar.
Dr. Yujuan Chen joined the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Tennessee State University (TSU) as an Associate Professor in urban forestry in January and the Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab was born.