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Hear Melanie’s interview on the Kojo Nnamdi Show |
Washington, DC: City of Trees from Truth About Trees on Vimeo.
| When author and naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley moved to Washington, DC, she learned that the natural and human history of this "city of trees" goes well beyond the flowering cherries for which it is so well known. She set out to document the botany and history of the area's trees, and the result is "City of Trees: The Complete Botanical and Historical Guide to the Trees of Washington, DC," now in its third edition. Melanie leads field trips and tree tours for Casey Trees, the Audubon Naturalist Society, the US Botanic Garden, and other organizations in and around the city. Melanie shared this story in March 2013 during a workshop organized by The Truth About Trees in collaboration with Casey Trees, with support from the National Science Foundation. |
Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a Washington, D.C. author and naturalist who leads field trips and tree tours for the Audubon Naturalist Society, the United States Botanic Garden, Casey Trees, the Maryland Native Plant Society and the Nature Conservancy. She is the author of City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, D.C., illustrated by Polly Alexander. The first two editions of the book were published during the 1980s. A third edition was
Melanie Choukas-Bradley with a
lace-bark pine, National Arboretum,
Washington, D.C.
Photo by Roberta Gutman.
Her article, “Trees of the White House,” was the cover story of a recent American Forests Magazine. Click here to read the story.
Melanie is the author of two natural history books about Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland, illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown, and she has been a long-time free-lance contributor to The Washington Post and other publications. Melanie teaches two courses through the Natural History Field Studies Program sponsored by the Audubon Naturalist Society and the Graduate School USA. She lectures widely and has been a guest on the Diane Rehm Show, the Kojo Nnamdi Show* and All Things Considered. She has been interviewed twice recently on WAMU’s Metro Connection*.
Melanie served as programs and education director for the 25th anniversary celebration of Montgomery County, Maryland’s nationally acclaimed Agricultural Reserve in 2005. As a staff member of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Melanie played a major role in the first post-Love Canal Congressional hearing on hazardous waste disposal. The hearing was chaired by Al Gore. Melanie is a former news director for a New Hampshire radio station. She is a member of the Maryland Native Plant Society Board of Directors and she serves on the Chevy Chase Tree Ordinance Board and the Montgomery Countryside Alliance Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Cosmos Club.
Melanie is currently working on a book tentatively titled A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, D.C with photos by Susan A. Roth. The book is scheduled to be published by George F. Thompson Publishing (Spring 2014). Melanie lives in Chevy Chase, MD with her husband, Jim, an energy attorney, musician and songwriter. He is president of the Sugarloaf Citizens Association. Her daughter is in graduate school and her son is a college student.
WAMU (Washington, D.C.'s NPR affiliate) - Melanie Choukas-Bradley's interviews:
* Metro Connection interview - February 19, 2010 - Tree Tour of the US Capitol Grounds
* Metro Connection interview - City of Trees
* Kojo Nnamdi show with guest host Corey Flintoff - Sugarloaf: The Mountain's History, Geology, and Natural Lore
* Kojo Nnamdi interview - Montgomery's Agricultural Reserve at 25
* Kojo Nnamdi interview - The City of Trees