Monica Dean, climate and sustainability practice director with the USC Dornsife Public Exchange, plants a tree. (USC Photo/Stephen Gee) 
University
USC Urban Trees Initiative expands green spaces in South Los Angeles neighborhoods
The first 27 of 250 new trees planned for South Los Angeles neighborhoods were planted to provide much-needed shade.
USC Urban Trees Initiative planted more than two dozen trees on Saturday in collaboration with the Koreatown Youth and Community Center and L.A. Sanitation and Environment in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The trees were the first of 250 that will be planted and cared for across L.A.’s Adams-Normandie, University Park and Exposition Park communities. The installation coincided with a community block party on West Dana Street. The event brought together USC faculty and student volunteers with community organizers and residents.
“Since 2020, the USC Urban Trees Initiative has brought together greening and air quality experts, local government and community organizations to plant trees in the L.A. communities that need them most,” said Kate Weber, executive director of Public Exchange at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “Today’s event is a great example of what we can do when we work together — and just the beginning of our work to protect residents from rising temperatures and improve quality of life.”
USC Urban Trees Initiative: Toward a greener city
USC Trees uses data to improve the equitable distribution of green spaces in Los Angeles. The initiative, organized through USC Dornsife Public Exchange, specializes in community-driven projects and draws on the shared expertise of leaders in geospatial sciences, landscape architecture, air quality and community engagement.
“The part that I find really rewarding is that my colleagues, my student researchers and I, we’ve developed a series of tools to really engage people who live in these neighborhoods in this conversation and help them understand what trees can do to help them as the climate gets warmer,” said Esther Margulies, a professor of practice and faculty member in the USC School of Architecture Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism program.
The tree planting event was a key milestone for USC Trees and the Sustainability “moonshot,” developed by USC President Carol Folt in 2022 to promote green research, education, policymaking and practice.
