Michael has more than 15 years of experience in community forestry management and program development. He was San Antonio’s first City Forester and later served as City Forester and Bureau Manager of Parks and Urban Forestry with the City of Norfolk. Michael is the President of Bexar Branches Alliance and currently works as a consulting arborist for Etter Tree Care in San Antonio.

Creates and delivers usable information to support sustainable forestry. Leads a team of talented geospatial professionals. Background in mathematics, environmental science, and geospatial analysis.

Murray Myers started his career as an intern in Urban Forestry for the Town of Flower Mound. Since then, he has worked for the City of Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio on multiple projects such as recycling ordinances, organics diversion, zero waste plans and citywide climate action plans. In his current role with the Office of Sustainability, Murray focuses on internal operations within the City of San Antonio, assisting departments with implementing climate strategies, and tracking and reporting progress. He has been working on urban heat island (UHI) mitigation strategies for the past four years, and assists the Office of Sustainability with overseeing the City’s UHI Delivery Team and piloting cool pavement across the city.

Mark Bird is City Arborist for the City of San Antonio since 2007. He is an ISA Certified Arborist, Municipal Specialist and is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified.

Refugio Mariscal is a GIS Analyst at American Forests. His work focuses on geospatial analysis and cartography to advance the work of the Tree Equity Score programs. Prior to joining American Forests, he worked for the National Audubon Society, first as a community engagement coordinator and later as GIS analyst, creating static and interactive maps and applications that contributed to the conservation of wetlands in the Great Lakes region. Refugio is a former public school educator and a volunteer for the Lake County Forest Preserves, as well as a board member of the Lake County Audubon Society where he leads a bilingual nature walk program and manages bird monitoring projects. He received his bachelor’s degree in geography with a minor in environmental science from DePaul University and is currently working towards a master’s degree in geographic information systems technology at the University of Arizona.