Meet the Summer 2023 Team

Hi! I am Haley Weinstein, a fourth-year Environmental Studies student and the President of Your Children’s Trees at UCSB. I love Your Children’s Trees because we bring a community of like-minded environmentalists together. With the pressures of being in college, rushing from class to class each day and worrying about the next big midterm and final, taking a few hours on Saturday mornings to regroup with the community and plant trees is so beautiful, rewarding, and refreshing for my spirit. Being a member of Your Children’s Trees has given me a community and a purpose during my time at UCSB, and I am grateful to contribute to an effort that is larger than myself.

I joined Your Children's Trees as an intern during the spring quarter of my second year at UCSB, and am now serving as the Growing Grounds coordinator over the summer. In fulfilling the duties of this position, I have been able to enjoy more time in nature and have learned a lot about tree maintenance. Starting in the fall, I will serve as an Advocacy Chair on the Environmental Affairs Board, where I hope to further my positive environmental impact. In the future, I hope to become an environmental lawyer and defend those who are unjustly affected by climate change.

Hello! I’m currently a 4th year majoring in environmental studies and general biology at UCSB. Working with YCT for the past ~1.5 years has been so much fun! I’ve been able to serve as volunteer coordinator and vice president since my first quarter as an intern, and getting more involved has been a positive and rewarding experience. Something that always excites me is checking on the progress of the very first tree I helped plant- it’s now taller than me! I’m looking forward to this next year and can’t wait to plant and take care of more trees!

Hello! I’m Hanyang Zheng, a second-year Environmental Studies and Sociology major student from Jinan, China. Ever since high school, I’ve shown a strong passion for nature and wanted to dedicate myself to ecological restoration and environmental law in the future. YCT’s events can be complex but gorgeous, no matter when working with kids during the science night or planting trees in the field. Those all bring me immersive contact with nature and those fellows who are enthusiastic about nature. I cherish the time with YCT and I’m willing to make a better future for our shared community.

As the Mapping Coordinator for Your Children’s Trees at UCSB I’m responsible for all things map-related, which is great because I love maps. My role can range from capturing GPS information to create maps of trees we’ve planted or are going to plant, to utilizing geographic information systems, or GIS, to quantify our impact as an organization and create fun visualizations. I’m currently a Geography and Environmental Studies major at UCSB who’s passionate about using GIS to analyze and solve geospatial issues, especially those relating to urban forestry, active transportation, and environmental justice.

As Technical Advisor, I founded YCT at UCSB in 2014 to provide practical, tree-related science experiences to academic students at UCSB and local schools. YCT at UCSB is an opportunity for students to get their hands dirty, learn about how to work effectively with others, and hopefully pass along their knowledge to others.  When I’m not volunteering as President of the nonprofit side of Your Children’s Trees (www.yourchildrenstrees.org), I work as a Registered Consulting Arborist (www.goletaarborists.com) providing expert advice on trees.  In my 40 years living in Goleta, I’ve planted and cared for 5000+ public trees for future generations.