The Canopy Crew is a cohort of young adults who spends the summer with us engaging in civic ecology – the practice of environmental stewardship – focused around trees. The crew is engaged in hands-on learning with the goals of enhancing green infrastructure, providing ecosystem services, and improving human well-being in cities and other habitats.

<watch video link>

Canopy Crew Credentials:

• Likes spending time outdoors
• Interest in climate change and other environmental issues
• Wants to grow their tree identification knowledge
• Desire to make an impact in their community
• Discovering available green careers in St. Louis
• Hanging out in trees
• Engaging youth in nature-based learning during our Tree Camp Week
• Working collaboratively with 5 other passionate young people

Interested in our Summer 2023 Canopy Crew? Check out the job posting below.

<job posting link> – Apply Here February 1 – May 1

Reflections

“My takeaways from this experience are that the urban canopy can be advocated for with boots on the ground and youths can be empowered to be environmental stewards. This was truly a phenomenal experience as a baseline for the work I foresee for myself in environmental justice.” – Alex

“Forest ReLeaf created a clear picture of why our work mattered and how our small contribution was significant for creating a greener world for tomorrow. This vision often carried me through some of the tedious and exhausting day-to-day work. Overall, the experience has been eye-opening and incredibly transformative.” – Kieran

“Saving the world may not look as glamorous as we see on TV, but what we’re doing with this program will spark a change no matter how small the seed.” – Mycol

“Getting to know this community has been great because it has allowed me to begin to understand the dynamics that environmental injustice creates.  I have often read about the divide between people of color and nature, but I still struggled to fully understand how anyone could dislike the trees that I had been taught to love. They were easy to love. I lived a privileged life in which I only saw nature in safe and aesthetic settings.  Listening to the issues that people had with their trees helped me understand their apprehension towards nature.” – Glore

“Along with never considering the worth of a tree I never considered the work of a tree. Trees are so devoted to their darma that we cannot help but to sometimes take their work for granted.  I have really enjoyed the reminder of all that trees do for us, and all that they could do for these communities.” – Glore