Hi. My name is Sacha Curran and a lifelong connection to trees began with a backyard crabapple tree that erupted each spring with a stunning display of white flowers. As the petals fell, it looked like December in July!

I grew up in south Edmonton with the Mill Creek Ravine as an extension to our backyard. Its quiet understory of dogwood, chokecherry, and beaked hazelnut shaped my earliest sense of place, while the deer and beaver trails drew me toward secret corners beyond the people-paths. Those early discoveries continue to ground my adult fascination with how urban green spaces invite both exploration and belonging. While in university, I worked in a bustling nursery in St. Albert, helping people select trees suitable for their spaces. Later, as a tree planter in northern Manitoba, I planted thousands of trees in spaces that were clear cut just a few years before.

During my teaching career, the students, their families and my colleagues were all as interconnected and dependent on each other as the natural ecosystems I witnessed years earlier. Organizing and launching student leadership programs showed me that even small individual actions can play a vital role in building and sustaining community connection.

Returning to my early interests in trees and ecosystems with the University of Guelph’s Horticulture program, my capstone research focused on the powerful impact of community monitoring and urban forest invasive pest management. The goal of this project is to make science and research accessible—equipping diverse communities across the province with the knowledge, tools, and capacity to identify and report signs of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). In doing so, they become part of a growing early warning network, strengthening their role in caring for urban forests, rural ash stands, and the vital ecosystems and ecoservices these trees sustain.