Webinar | Winter Storm Fern: A Roundtable Discussion about Ice, Infrastructure, and Trees

Please join us Tuesday, February 17 for our next webinar brought to you by the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council (TUFC) and the UT Residential and Community Forestry Workgroup!

Winter Storm Fern: A Roundtable Discussion about Ice, Infrastructure, and Trees
Tuesday, February 17, 2025
11 a.m. Central / 12 p.m. Eastern

Preview:
This webinar will examine the impact of Winter Storm Fern and the broader implications for arboriculture, urban forestry, and utilities. A Board Certified Master Arborist will join us to provide an overview of the weather event and its observed impacts on trees and infrastructure. The program will then transition to a 20-minute moderated roundtable discussion featuring commercial, municipal, and utility perspectives, highlighting field experiences, damage patterns, response strategies, and considerations for assessment and recovery. The final 20 minutes will be dedicated to audience-submitted questions and open discussion. Participants will gain practical insight into winter storm readiness, response, communication, and approaches that can strengthen tree and infrastructure resilience in their communities.

Speakers:
Keenan Baird, Founder, GreenRoots Tree and Plant Health Care
Matthew Searels, Vice President, Eocene Environmental Group, LLC
Sarah Welz, Urban Forestry Project Manager, Metro Nashville

Keenan Baird is a Board Certified Master Arborist and the founder of GreenRoots Tree and Plant Health Care, a Tennessee based company focused on professional tree care, preservation, and long term plant health. His career in the green industry began as a teenager doing tree work, which grew into a deep interest in how trees grow, fail, and recover. That curiosity led him to earn a degree in Agriculture Business with a minor in horticulture and later achieve the ISA Board Certified Master Arborist credential, a designation held by fewer than two thousand arborists worldwide. Keenan’s work centers on risk assessment, structural pruning, and plant health care, with an emphasis on helping property owners make informed decisions rather than defaulting to removal. He is known for bridging practical field experience with data driven analysis and for advocating for higher professional standards within the arboriculture industry. Through GreenRoots and his consulting work, he helps homeowners, municipalities, and companies care for trees in a way that balances safety, biology, and long term value.

Matthew Searels is the Vice President at Eocene Environmental Group, LLC. He began his UVM career with Eocene as a consulting utility forester (CUF) at Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation in Murfreesboro. He has successfully supervised special projects and managed daily operations for multiple transmission and distribution contracts concurrently in select management team positions. Matt has his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies along with a bachelor’s in Business Administration. Additionally, Matt is an ISA Certified Arborist, Utility Specialist, serves on the UAA’s Sustainability Committee, has participated with Tour des Trees event each year since 2019, and was President of ISA Southern Chapter in 2023-2024.

Sarah Welz is the Urban Forestry Project Manager for Metro Nashville and currently serves as the TUFC Board President. After receiving a degree in Conservation Biology at her favorite place on earth, SUNY-ESF, she spent time with the Americorps doing urban forestry work in New York (which she loved) and backcountry conservation work in Utah (which she did not). Mind made up, she moved to the southeast to enjoy warmer weather and find a year-round job in urban forestry, which Metro Nashville so kindly offered her. She identifies, plans, and executes tree plantings all over Davidson County, and enjoys using trees to improve health and happiness in the environment and community.

Continuing Education:
1-CEU ISA Certified Arborist (pending approval)