Lydia Scott

Chicago

Lydia Scott is Director, Chicago Region Trees Initiative. Lydia is the founding Director of the Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI), a regional collaboration of ~200 organizations, founded by The Morton Arboretum. The CRTI is working to inspire people to value trees, improve the Chicago region’s tree canopy, reduce threats to trees, and enhance oak ecosystems resulting in improved quality of life across all communities. The CRTI covers 284 municipalities, 150 park districts and nine million people. The CRTI works collaboratively to bring together resources, education, and opportunities from a wide range of partners to assist communities and landowners in learning why trees are important, how to plant, care, and advocate for them. She also manages the Community Trees Program of The Morton Arboretum that works across the Midwest assisting communities with urban forestry projects and educating and engaging landowners and managers. Lydia has twenty year’s experience in the public sector managing the urban forest, preserving oak ecosystems, and working on storm management projects. She has a master of science degree from the University of Illinois in Environmental Science.