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Date Available

5-1-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Geography

Faculty

Nick Lally

Faculty

Tony Stallins

Faculty

Tad Mutersbaugh

Abstract

This thesis examines how urban forestry data practices shape relationships between people, trees, and knowledge in Lexington, Kentucky. Drawing on political ecology, science and technology studies, and critical making, it argues that conventional methods of data collection, interpretation, and visualization privilege Western scientific and market-based frameworks that often exclude affective, embodied, and more-than-human ways of knowing. Using autoethnography and six semi-structured interviews with urban forestry professionals, the study explores how practitioners experience tensions between treating trees as measurable commodities and engaging them as relational beings. It finds that while urban foresters rely on dominant discourses such as ecosystem services to secure funding and legitimacy, they simultaneously cultivate personal and emotional connections to the urban forest that exceed these frameworks.

The second part of the thesis experiments with alternative approaches through a participatory design workshop, demonstrating how creative and interdisciplinary methods can expand what counts as environmental data. These practices, conceptualized as “(en)counter cartographies,” foreground encounter, transformation, and reciprocity. Ultimately, the thesis argues for a more holistic approach to urban forestry that integrates scientific, artistic, and relational knowledge systems, opening space for more just, meaningful, and ecologically centered engagements with urban forests.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.215

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