Speaker Bio

Joran Viers is the City Forester with City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department. He is broadly responsible for tree care issues within the City, as described by City ordinances, and works to make the city a more livable place for trees and people, discouraging the overuse of gravel mulches in order to mitigate the urban heat island effect. Prior to taking this position, he worked for the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, as Horticulture Agent and Director in Bernalillo County, and then as State Urban Small Farm Horticulture Agent. Viers was born in Albuquerque, but grew up in California, Costa Rica and Arkansas. He has a life-long love of plants and the natural sciences. He has a Bachelor s degree in Biology from the University of New Mexico, and a Master s degree in Botany from the University of Florida. Joran has been a member of Think Trees NM since 2003, an ISA-Certified Arborist since 2008, and became a Board-Certified Master Arborist in 2016