Urban forestry often is overlooked in the world of science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics — known as STEAM in academic circles. Yet the work of managing forests in urban areas is critical to slowing climate change and advancing social equity.

Through a project called Urban ForeSTEAM, American Forests is educating high school students about how people and the planet benefit from trees, the diverse range of career opportunities in urban forestry and how to enter this career path. Boosting the number of skilled people who are working in urban forestry is key to creating Tree Equity in cities across America.

Students learn about and explore urban forestry as an interdisciplinary field to determine areas that best fit their needs. They perform inquiry-based learning while gaining work-readiness skills.