Name: Kari Moreland
Volunteer Since: Spring 2022
Roles: Tree Planter
Kari’s Background:
I’ve always been an outdoorsy person. I love hiking, backcountry camping, whitewater canoeing, mountain biking… anything surrounded by nature. My love of trees, came from my parents. They were (and still are) always planting trees around our farm, collecting the seeds and planting more. It’s so beautiful going back there now and seeing how large these trees have become. I now live in the city but want to ensure that my kids get the same chances I did to get outside and learn to love nature.
I take them to ReForest events so that they can learn about trees and how important they are in our environment. I first learned about ReForest London because of their Million Tree Challenge. I thought it was a worthy cause and wanted to help out. When I learned that ReForest focuses on planting native
species then I was hooked! I love native trees in particular because they are so important for our insects, birds and other animals, helping to increase our local biodiversity.
I teach Biology at Fanshawe College and promote ReForest London events to my students. My students always come back from the events happy that they got involved and excited to go back to help out again. My hope is that by getting more students hands on experiences in events like naturalizations, then they will learn to better appreciate nature and become our environmental stewards of the future!
What is one fond memory from volunteering at ReForest?
The first time that I took my kids tree planting with ReForest London was a cold, dark day. While we were out there, it started pouring rain, but the kids still wanted to stay and keep planting. With trees and shovels in hand, they started dancing and singing “Baby Oak, du du du” to the tune of Baby Shark. Their energy and smiles were enormous and contagious.
