New Conference Feature! Poster Presentations:
OCT is organizing the conference, which is co-sponsored by the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and the USDA Forest Service. Presentations can be about successes in preserving large, healthy shade trees or room to plant them on residential or commercial properties that were developed or redeveloped with an increased density level. Also sought are presentations about methods of tree preservation during construction, ideas for redesigning streets and right-of-way planting strips to make room for larger trees, and similar concepts.
For more information and to submit a poster presentation, follow the link below!
2024 Speakers & Panelists
Kaarin Knudson
Kaarin Knudson is a licensed architect, educator, and leader with more than 20 years’ experience advancing sustainable design and community-led solutions. In 2017, she founded the housing advocacy organization Better Housing Together (BHT), to increase housing affordability, diversity and supply in Lane County, and was awarded the City of Eugene’s “Community Award” in 2018. Knudson advised on the implementation of Oregon’s landmark middle housing laws and advocated for the creation of Eugene’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. She is a longtime member of the City Club of Eugene, and she served as its president in 2022-2023. She teaches a graduate urban design workshop at the University of Oregon and is coauthor of a new textbook, The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook (Routledge, April 2024).
Jena Hughes
Jena Hughes (she/her) is a Housing and Growth Management Analyst at the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). Prior to joining DLCD, Hughes spent seven years in local government as a long-range planner working primarily on housing and land use issues. Having grown up in Oregon, Hughes has always felt a strong connection to trees and passion for climate action that eventually led her to study Sustainable Environmental Design and City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. In her current role, she aims to find creative solutions for addressing complex housing challenges while being guided by her values of equity and sustainability.
Ted Labbe
Ted Labbe (BA, MS) has served with Depave since 2008, as a founding board member, active volunteer, and most recently as Co-Director of Finance and Partnerships. He is a conservation biologist with 30 years professional experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors delivering conservation planning, habitat mapping and assessment, community organizing, urban greening, and policy analysis.
Ryan Gilpin
As Principal Consultant at Portland-based Nidus Consulting, arborist Ryan Gilpin is a contributing author of an International Society of Arboriculture-published book on best management practices for protecting trees during construction. He works with developers to identify the best trees on properties they plan to build on, design around those trees, and protect them during construction. Gilpin has also developed a process with Clean Water Services in Washington County to identify which ash trees are likely to be at the highest risk from emerald ash borer. He also has performed post-storm tree inspections for homeowners in neighborhoods hit by high winds and ice in January 2024. A North Portland resident, Gilpin gives numerous tree walks and tree-related classes and workshops.
