Joe McLeod, RPF, has a background in forestry, landscape architecture, and arboriculture. He
was inspired to study forestry at UBC after growing up in Ontario and making maple syrup each
spring on his family’s maple woodlot near Rockwood.

Joe graduated in 2001 and moved to the US, where he worked on large ranches in New Mexico
and Colorado, focusing on elk habitat, wildfire management, and forest restoration. He then
moved to Nashville and worked as a tree climber by day and played bluegrass music by night.
During this time, he was inspired to return to Ontario to study landscape architecture and,
subsequently, work at design firms in Toronto and Calgary.

Joe returned to BC in 2010 and joined the City of Vancouver in 2011. He worked for the park
development team until 2019, then took on the city arborist role. He eventually transitioned to
the associate director role for park operations and is now responsible for the urban forestry
portfolio of 150,000 street trees, 35,000 park trees, and more than a million trees in forested
areas.