$5 Million USDA Grant Featured in Times Union, Spectrum and WAMC

Andrei Lapenas stands in a suit with his arms folded, surrounded by trees, in front of the Academic Podium courtyard on the Uptown Campus.

The USDA grant will support a new project to improve the health of Albany’s urban forest, with Professor Andrei Lapenas as the project's principal investigator.

Researchers in the University at Albany’s Department of Geography and Planning at the College of Arts and Sciences are receiving $5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support a new project, Urban Climate Adaptation of Forest Ecosystems with Disadvantaged Communities and Youth in Albany, New York (Urban CAFÉ DAY). The project is gaining attention as it aims to improve the health of Albany’s urban forest and educate the next generation of local climate leaders.

The award is one of several from the Urban and Community Forestry Program to expand access to trees and green spaces in communities and neighborhoods nationwide The project was covered in the Times Union, Spectrum News and WAMC.

Read coverage from the Times Union.

Watch and read the story from Spectrum News.

Listen and read WAMC's interview with Professor Andrei Lapenas, principal investigator.