Tenley Conway

My research integrates insights from environmental geography, environmental studies, and urban ecology to improve our understanding of urban forest governance- including key actors, rules and discourses- and use of geospatial techniques to examine patterns of trees and other urban land covers. Recent SSHRC-funded research has examined (1) residents’ role in urban forest governance, (2) perceptions and experiences with urban forests, and (3) green infrastructure discourse, perceptions and actions in Canada. I am an associate editor of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening and sit on two other editorial boards. I serve as a board member of LEAF, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the urban forest, and I am part of several municipal working groups. I am interested in supervising Masters or PhD students who would like to focus on projects exploring (1) green infrastructure or urban forestry policy and management or (2) residents experiences, knowledge, attitudes and actions in relation to small-scale green infrastructure, trees and urban nature more generally. I consider these topics from a socio-ecological systems perspective, emphasizing interactions among different actors, in light of environmental change and justice considerations.

Selected Publications 

Kowalski, J. and T.M. Conway. 2023. The routes to fruit: Governance of urban food trees in Canada. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 86: 128045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128045 

Ordóñez, C., S.M. Labib, L. Chung, and T.M. Conway. 2023. Satisfaction with urban trees associates with tree canopy cover and tree visibility around the home. npj Urban Sustainability 3:37. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-023-00119-8

Mell, I. and T.M. Conway. 2023. Promoting essential green infrastructure by acknowledging local needs in praxis. in the Infrastructure That Connects/Infrastructure That Divides Interface, Eds. M. Siemiatycki and K. Ward with L.K. Bates. Planning Theory & Practice https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2166287

Conway, T.M. A.Y. Yuan, L.A. Roman, M. Heckert, H. Pearsall, S.T. Dickinson, C.D. Rosan & C. Ordóñez. 2023. Who participates in green infrastructure initiatives and why? Comparing participants and nonparticipants in Philadelphia’s GI programs. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 25(3): 327-341. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2022.2128310.

Regier, K.  and T.M. Conway. 2022. Where to expand green infrastructure to support equitable climate change adaptation in the city of Toronto? CATE: Cities and the Environment 15(1): 1. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol15/iss1/1

Ordóñez Barona, C., K. Wolf, J.M. Kowalski, D. Kendal, J.A. Byrne, T.M. Conway. 2022. Diversity in public perceptions of urban forests and urban trees: A critical review. Landscape and Urban Planning 226: 104466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104466

Su, K., C. Ordóñez, K. Regier and T.M. Conway. 2022. Values and beliefs about urban forests from diverse urban contexts and populations in the Greater Toronto Area. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 127589 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127589