Urban Forester Kasey Krouse is enthusiastic about educating people about the value of trees.

Kasey Krouse, Knoxville’s Urban Forester, was recently elected Tennessee's Director of the International Society of Arboriculture.

The society’s mission is to promote the awareness of the benefits of trees worldwide. Krouse’s duty will be to plan projects and conferences carried out by the society in the Southeastern United States. He will be serving in the role as a volunteer.

Krouse was hired as the City of Knoxville's first urban forester in 2012. Prior to working for the City, he had accrued a robust range of experiences, ranging from ecological restoration to invasive species control to taking tree inventory for local organizations and municipalities.

Krouse also led many successful projects in his role as Knoxville’s Urban Forester. Last year, he and his team brought the “If Trees Could Sing” project to Victor Ashe and Morningside parks. The project features famous musicians singing about their favorite trees. He's also developed an interactive tree inventory map of the city and expanded the Urban Forestry crew's duties to include proactively maintaining trees.

This winter and spring, Urban Forestry is overseeing the planting of 600 new City trees in parks and along right-of-ways and greenways.

- Communications intern Tucker Hyde