Staff

SUSAN TEITELMAN

Trees for Missoula Program Lead & CLIMATE RESILIENCE SPECIALIST, CLIMATE SMART MISSOULA

As the Climate Resilience Specialist at Climate Smart Missoula, Susan focuses on helping the Missoula community adapt to the impacts of climate change. Her work centers around wildfire smoke and health education and outreach; extreme heat preparedness planning; and now urban forestry! Susan is excited to take the lead on the Trees for Missoula program by addressing urban forestry efforts through the lens of climate change. She believes that building and maintaining a healthy urban forest is one of the best ways communities can be resilient to heat, extreme weather events, and other climate impacts.

Susan graduated with her MS in Environmental Studies in 2022 from the University of Montana, where she focused on ethnobotany, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and environmental justice. She has lived in Missoula since 2013 and since then has worked as an herbalist and plant educator, spending a lot of time teaching and learning about Western Montana’s flora. Susan continues to learn about the many aspects of Missoula’s history, cultures, politics, and the natural environment — and how they are all interconnected. Now in her urban forestry efforts, Susan enjoys working with plants in a slightly different capacity!

Melody Irvine

Intern, Climate Smart Missoula

Melody Irvine has been an enthusiastic intern with Climate Smart Missoula for the past year, where she has dedicated much of her time to advancing the mission of Trees for Missoula and promoting urban tree equity. A lifelong Missoulian, Melody is currently pursuing a dual undergraduate degree in Social Work and Environmental Science and Sustainability at the University of Montana.

Her unique academic background allows her to bridge environmental and social issues, bringing a people-centered perspective to climate solutions. Passionate about climate justice and advocating for vulnerable populations, Melody has been a valuable asset to Trees for Missoula’s efforts to ensure equitable access to the benefits of a healthy urban forest. She supports this work through the DNRC Tree Equity grant, which aims to lower barriers to tree care in underserved neighborhoods.

In addition to her work with Trees for Missoula, Melody contributes to community outreach, education, and broader program support for Climate Smart Missoula.

KAREN SIPPY

Founder & VOLUNTEER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EMERITUS, tREES FOR mISSOULA

Karen Sippy is a founding member and volunteer executive director of Trees for Missoula (TFM). Karen arrived in Missoula in 2003, immediately falling in love with the city and its trees. Growing up in the Midwest, Karen could often be found high up in her favorite place, the catalpa tree in the front yard of her childhood home. She was born a tree hugger, so after working as a middle school teacher, public speaker and sales manager, it was time to retire to a life of giving back to her community and to the trees.

Since TMF’s founding in 2011, she has worked closely with Missoula’s Urban Forestry Division, in an effort to identify how the community and TFM volunteers could best promote a healthy urban forest. She served on the committee that wrote the 2015 Missoula Urban Forest Master Management Plan, and looks forward to continuing her work supporting Missoula’s urban forest.

Karen is also a founding board member and treasurer for Grant Creek Trails Association, a board member for Friends of Missoula Parks and a member of the State of Montana Arboretum Committee.

We’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to Karen. Thank you, Karen, for your many years of service to the Missoula urban forestry community!

Partners

Advocating for the urban forest cannot take place in a vacuum. It requires the involvement, commitment and cooperation from a variety of stakeholders, those who have an interest in the overall health of our community.

Trees for Missoula would not be able to be as effective and productive without support from our many past and present partners, including:

City of Missoula Parks & Recreation Department, Urban Forestry Division, & Office of Neighborhoods, Clark Fork Coalition, Good Food Store, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC),Montana Natural History Center, Montana Urban and Community Forestry Association (MUCFA), Missoula Art Museum, Missoula neighborhood councils, MMW Architects, Run Wild Missoula, and many neighborhood residents and volunteers.

We’re also grateful to Friends of Missoula Parks (FMP), our former fiscal sponsor. FMP was formed in 2002 by Missoula residents to provide a non-governmental entity to contribute to Missoula’s park and recreation amenities. From 2011 through 2023, FMP provided fiscal sponsorship to Trees for Missoula. Through this partnership, Trees for Missoula was able to apply for grants and receive tax-deductible donations.