How Nashville became Home to the Largest Urban Forest

within the Limits of any Major City in the World

Judson Newbern

Judson will give a presentation that tracks how the efforts of a small group of volunteers evolved the story of Nashville’s Highland Rim Forest over the past 2 years. He explore ways this might serve the region in the future. Judson hopes to open a dialogue to get ideas and input from the audience since this is very much an active work-in-progress.

Biosketch: Applying a graduate degree from Harvard in environmental planning & design, Judson enjoyed a 30-year professional career on Vanderbilt University’s executive administration team overseeing the design, construction, and operations of all campus facilities and grounds, including organizing the institution’s Sustainability program and Environmental Health & Safety. In early 2016, he transitioned to private-sector consulting and served on a number of nonprofit boards. His interests are in networking across various stakeholder groups in matters involving local ecological interests, particularly the preservation of tree canopy, and in using plein air painting to advocate for the preservation of Middle Tennessee landscapes.