Monthly Archives for July 2018





Camilla Cook: Tree Inventory Update #4

On Tuesday, I went and inventoried Block 8 and Block 9. On Block 8, there were only two trees on the west side of the block (Tioga and Braddock). Of the two, I identified an Acer saccharinum (Silver maple). Since I divided Block 9 into three portions, I will discuss each separately. On Block 9, […]


Camilla Cook: Tree Inventory Update #3

This morning, I redid the field work completed on the first day of data collection, measuring in particular the height (more so recording up/down percentages of my views of the top and bottom of the trees) and distance (how far away from the tree can I view the top of it) of the twenty-three trees […]


Lydia Aceto: Studying natural ways to extract lead from soil

I’ve been doing research on lead in soil, how to interpret soil tests, and potential methods of removing soil from lead in urban areas where there are lots of people. Studies of phytoremediation (using plants and natural methods to extract lead from soil) are fairly recent and there is no definitive answer on what the […]


Morgan Block: Examining Homewood’s Housing

The past month at Operation Better Block has served as a great learning experience. Some of my assignments have been surrounding the topic of housing in Homewood. Housing is a major issue in many, if not all, Pittsburgh neighborhoods, and housing contains significant value in sustainable cities. Interestingly, the City of Pittsburgh owns many vacant, […]