Big news: LA City Council has formally endorsed #ShadeLA, building on the Mayor's commitment & authorizing the City to expand, maintain, and fast-track both natural and built shade. Thanks to the leadership of @dornsife.usc.edu Public Exchange, in partnership with @luskininnovation.bsky.social

Got to check out Festival Trail’s new modular shade prototype at Grand Ave Arts this weekend — complete with immersive VR art experience. Great to see such concepts come to fruition despite many site-specific restrictions, and thrilled to have them as a ShadeLA partner.

Just ✌️ weekends left to see Roots of Cool @descansogardens.bsky.social before it's uprooted! 🌳☂️

Come check it out if you haven't had a chance yet. We'll be doing a final walkthrough on the last day Sun. 10/12 @ 9:45am. Meet at the tables by the entrance. @luskininnovation.bsky.social @ucanr.edu

Spend your lunch hour with me, @gregspierce.bsky.social and accomplished panelists for a webinar on 10/7 introducing the 2025 Southern California Community Water Systems Atlas, a joint project of @luskininnovation.bsky.social and @ucanr.edu.

Register at ➡️ innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/event/how-do...

Opening tonight (reception 5-7pm, free), on view through October 12: a series of indoor and outdoor art installations that my husband and I curated at @descansogardens.bsky.social. @samkbloch.bsky.social's NYT piece is a great appetizer! publ.cc/vGfzTx @ucanr.edu @luskininnovation.bsky.social

So Cal peeps: come to @descansogardens.bsky.social on Jul. 11 for the opening reception of a shade equity show I co-curated. Free garden admission that night only. Spend time with caring humans and remember our region still stands strong during trying times! www.descansogardens.org/event/roots-...

Went back out into the #PalisadesFire burn scar this week to collect forensic LiDAR data on trees and fire dynamics. Things that give me hope: a newly planted oak and a few mature CA natives bouncing back 4 months after being heavily scorched.

Pre-order the ultimate summer read and help @samkbloch.bsky.social have a successful book launch. Out 7/22. It’s also the perfect companion to a trees+shade exhibit I’m co-curating 7/12-10/12 @descansogardens.bsky.social. More soon on that!

bookshop.org/p/books/shad...

⚠️ ACTION ALERT ⚠️ The City of LA's proposed budget aims to eliminate the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office. Please submit a comment to protect @cemo-ej4la.bsky.social before the public hearing Fri. 4/25 @1pm. And thank you!

✍️ LACouncilComment.com and reference Council File No. 25-0600

New results from the annual Quality of Life Index presented by Zev Yaroslavsky at the #LuskinSummit this morning point to a harsh reality: many LA taxpayers are unwilling or unable to pay for the investments needed to make the region more resilient to the next crisis. Where do we go from here?

Team work makes the dream work! BIG THANKS to volunteers who made 1st part of #PalisadesFire tree assessment possible, joining us from @ucanr.bsky.social @forestservice.bsky.social @treepeople-org.bsky.social @uclaextension.bsky.social @luskininnovation.bsky.social 🙏 Bonus: Can you spot the Xmas 🎄?

What happens when you're rooted in the ground and can't escape 🔥? If you're a 🌳, luckily your ancestors developed a host of adaptive responses they passed on to you. Here are a few we saw in our #PalisadesFire fieldwork. @ucanr.bsky.social @luskininnovation.bsky.social

Wrapped up phase 1 of data collection in #PalisadesFire. Many trees still standing, many survived when everything around burned. This was no forest fire. In a wind-driven, urban fire like this, we see many trees burned by the built environment
@ucanr.bsky.social @luskininnovation.bsky.social

While we're on the topic...the difference btwn SCORCHED and CONSUMED in palms in #PalisadesFire. Learn much more in the newly-published manual by @ucanr.bsky.social + @forestservice.bsky.social colleagues. 34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calf...

Started ground data collection in #PalisadesFire this week with support from @ucanr.bsky.social. Plenty of perplexing evidence testing conventional knowledge about fire behavior and the role of vegetation.

🌴🔥 Here are 2 views of 2 canary island palms shot across the street from each other.

Spent the day w @ucanr.bsky.social @forestservice.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social colleagues doing forensic tree research in #EatonFire. What I saw tested some key assumptions that are circulating about the role of vegetation in spreading fire.

Spend your lunch hour with me and @gregspierce.bsky.social on 2/24. We'll present on 💧 supply ✚ wild 🔥 ... the topic that's dominated our lives since last month's megafires.
Zoom link: tinyurl.com/WebinarFeb24

Thanks @ucanr.bsky.social Water Program Team and @ucanrwater.bsky.social for co-hosting!

Join me and several distinguished tree-folk this Thursday! @lindsaydarling.bsky.social (Morton Arboretum), Elektra Fike-Data (Tree San Diego), Hamil Pearsall (Temple University), Elizabeth Riedman (US EPA) and yours truly will discuss 🌳 planting and care barriers -- and how to overcome them