Rachel Holmes

New Haven

Rachel Holmes is a conservation education specialist with The Nature Conservancy’s Forest Health Protection Program. In this capacity, she coordinates Conservancy’s urban forestry program, called the Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities (HTHC) Initiative. The mission of the initiative is to protect the health of our nation’s forests and the well-being of communities by fostering a culture of stewardship that engages individuals and groups in the care of urban trees, and supports the next generation of emerging conservation leaders. Particularly passionate about youth engagement in urban forest management, Rachel established the HTHC Urban Tree Health Monitoring internship program, coordinated in partnership with the US Forest Service, which prepares college-aged youth for careers in conservation through urban forestry field work and peer leadership opportunities. She continues to seek meaningful ways to encourage stewardship of urban forests, especially within the faith community. Prior to her work at TNC, Rachel created and implemented two urban forestry-based job training programs for urban youth in New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, and served as an urban forester for the State of Connecticut. Rachel holds a BS from Rutgers University, a Masters of Divinity from the Yale Divinity School, and a Masters of Forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.