About Dr. Heather Chen-Yost
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost graduated from the University of California at Berkeley (2013) with a BA in Integrative Biology and a minor in Scandinavian Studies. Her interest in medicine lead her to get an MD from Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine (2018) and then completed her residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Chicago (2022).
She returned to Michigan to complete her cytopathology (2023) and thoracic pathology fellowships (2024) at the University of Michigan. Dr. Chen-Yost stayed on as faculty at Michigan Medicine practicing cytopathology and thoracic pathology, with participation in general surgical pathology and frozen section services.
Outside of medicine, she enjoys rock climbing, going to concerts, managing her garden, and traveling with her husband, Sam.
Resources
Transcription
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and the challenge for Ann Arbor to meet its carbon neutrality goal of 2030 is a daunting task. And the effort is being approached from a variety of angles. Among them, enhancing what has already made Ann Arbor known as Tree Town. I'm David Fair, and welcome to this week's edition of Issues of the Environment. There is of course the 10,000 Tree Initiative, which empowers residents to plant more native trees that are provided for free, and there are some concentrate efforts to create more pocket forests and eco-islands. Are you familiar with those? Well, that's the focus of our conversation today. And our guest is Dr. Heather Chen-Yost. She is a volunteer with the Tree Town Urban Forest Team. And, Heather, thank you so much for the time today! I appreciate it!
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Thank you for inviting me, David!
David Fair: I may have used a few terms there that are somewhat unfamiliar to many. How do you define a pocket forest?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah, happy to explain! So, what we consider a pocket forest is basically a collection of trees, shrubs and other native plants planted close together anywhere between 100 square feet to a 2000-square-feet space, and the planting of these trees close together helps encourage them to grow a little faster and develop essentially a small little forest. This can be placed in a variety of different places, such as a park, open lot or open ground, someone's backyard, but it's a way to speed up the development of a forest where there was none prior.
David Fair: And in doing so, is an eco-island an extension of that definition?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yes. So, a pocket forest, as I mentioned, requires a decent amount of space. We have pocket forests that are group-planted. That was about 100 square feet. But not everyone may have that capacity but still want to maybe have sort of a small little forest. So, what we're calling eco-islands honors that pocket forest ideology by encouraging people to plant several trees, shrubs and other native plants, but in a smaller scale. That's what we call an eco-island. And that way, people who are interested in growing more trees in their yards, but maybe don't have the space, can still participate. So, instead of like a large forest, it would be maybe two or three trees, two or three shrubs and some other native plants, and that would be a little island, where trees can grow and develop and mature.
David Fair: It's a fascinating concept, and the practice of pocket forests originated back in the 1970s. I certainly wasn't aware of it until just a few years back. It was introduced by Japanese botanist and ecology expert Akira Miyawaki. And across the world, many people refer to development of these pocket forests as the Miyawaki Method. Is that the methodology being applied to the work your team is doing?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah. So, it's not like, I think, as faithful, I guess, to maybe his method, but I think it is adapted from those principles. I also wasn't aware of this until a few years ago when I started volunteering with the initial iteration of this group, which was part of the Ann Arbor chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby. And the head of our group, which is the Tree Town Urban Forest Team, Barbara Lucas, she introduced the term to me, and I thought that was fascinating.
David Fair: And to me. Yeah.
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah. And then, to see that like many other communities have also taken those principles and applied them to try to develop their own pocket forest. So, that way, we can rapidly grow trees in areas where there weren't any previously.
David Fair: I know there are pocket forests that were put up in Burr Park and County Farm. Will novices like me be able to discern where those pocket forests are, or does it just kind of blend in with what already exists?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: So, the one in Burr Park, in particular, it is an area where there used to be just grass, and we've actually fenced it off. So, if you're walking along Burr Park, you may come across an area, like a square that's been fenced off, where there's a lot of grass around. But then, there's these baby little trees that are growing. You'll be able to identify it. We have some information when you walk by to either scan a QR code, to read about the forest or, yeah, basically just understand what's going on with the little patch of shrubs and little stumpy trees in that part.
David Fair: And when we have these small pockets of native plants put in these kinds of areas, in the longer term, how do we benefit the urban canopy in Ann Arbor?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: In the longer term, having more trees is beneficial in a lot of different ways. One of the main things that it does is to sequester carbon, so having trees and shrubs and native plants help, especially trees, help sequester carbon. As you know, today's a rainy day, and it's been very rainy the past few weeks, trees and other plants can help with absorbing stormwater. With the stormwater runoff, sometimes there are harmful minerals or compounds. And so, the trees and other plants can help absorb them, so they don't get run off into our natural streams and rivers and other waterways. Having more trees helps the Ann Arbor initiative to plant more trees in Ann Arbor in general. It provides shade and then especially native plants that helps encourage fostering habitats for like insects, birds, and other animals. I think especially for insects, since they often are, I think, hurt by plants that are not necessarily native, so they have putting more native plants. Not only are you providing home and food for these insects, but then, with these insects, you provide food for other animals. So, yeah, there's just like many, many reasons why having more trees and especially native trees is important for us to have.
David Fair: WEMU's Issues of the Environment conversation continues with Dr. Heather Chen-Yost from the Tree Town Urban Forest Team. You've mentioned that it can help with stormwater runoff, soil quality. Can the native plants and trees and shrubs also help overtake some non-native species that are often ecologically harmful as you pointed out?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah. One thing that needs to be considered when you are planting these pocket forests or eco-islands is that weeding still needs to be done for these non-native plants. And I think, over time, that is to just encourage growth of these native plants. And then, over time, these native plans will overtake non-natives in the area. I think you still need to address the non-natives in areas where there are no pocket forests or eco-islands, whether it's like a bush that maybe is not native, maybe remove that and then replace it with an eco-island. You know, it may be great to sequester an area to remove non-natives, but there still needs to be work done in like the areas where there is no pocket forest or eco-island.
David Fair: Speaking of pockets, we all like to know how any particular issue or action may impact our wallets. Are there potential financial benefits to community or individual with pocket forests and eco-islands?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah. So, one benefit is that, with planting these forests and trees, there is some upfront cost with both replacing the lawn, getting the plants in and watering them. But then, over time, as these trees, shrubs, and plants mature, they do require less water than non-native, especially if you are replacing grass. Grass is very intensive. Like, it needs a lot of water. Some people like a really green lawn. And so, that requires a lot of fertilizer or any other resources. So, planting encourages both biodiversity, but also you do save money in the long term since you don't have to water as much, you maybe don't need to fertilize as much. And also, your time too. You don't mean to put as much time into after the first few years.
David Fair: The Tree Town Urban Forest team was formed, as you mentioned, through a collaboration of the Wild Ones in Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby. And I would like to mention that it has been recognized by the Washtenaw Conservation District as the 2025 Tree Conservationist of the Year. Congratulations on that honor, first of all!
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Thank you!
David Fair: And in doing so, it took particular note of your advocacy efforts and educational programming efforts. How far do you plan to take the program and advance it the rest of this year?
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah. So, we've got a couple of things that we're thinking of doing. I think currently right now, we are making a push to get the word out about eco-islands just because it is more feasible for the average person. We're also promoting education with other ways to protect trees. So, another one of our initiatives is to encourage trunk protection. We've noticed that there are several trees that were planted by the City of Ann Arbor that may have had weed whip damage, so we are encouraging them to protect more of these trees. We're also launching a few other initiatives that may help to check trees that may not require putting a bit of metal or plastic around trees, such as the eco-edge or eco-fringe. So, these are terms that we've sort of made up. But basically, the concept is to leave a little area around the trees where you don't mow and maybe you plant other shrubs or native plants in there. And then, that way, if you're not mowing the area, you have less of a risk of weed whipping the tree, which can essentially damage and then eventually kill the tree. So, I think, primarily, our focus is on promoting those concepts to the greater Ann Arbor area.
David Fair: I, for one, can say I feel a lot more educated after talking with you! I thank you so much for the time in the conversation today!
Dr. Heather Chen-Yost: Yeah, no problem! Thank you for having us again!
David Fair: That is Dr. Heather Chen-Yost. She is a volunteer with the Tree Town Urban Forest Team and has been our guest on Issues of the Environment. If you'd like more information on our topic today, simply stop by our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner. You hear it every Wednesday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
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