Maggio Laquidara

Bio

Advisor and Program

Meredith Martin
Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University

About

My name is Maggio Laquidara, and I am currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University, using funds that the Southeastern Climate Adaptation Science Center generously offered to my supervisors Dr. Meredith Martin, Dr. Justin Baker, and Dr. Jennifer Richmond-Bryant. Our project, “Urban Tree Planting and Mortality in Socially Vulnerable Neighborhoods,” investigates the extent to which Southeastern urban forests are ready for climate change. Admission to the Global Change Research Fellows Program will allow me to expand our work into a PhD program and disseminate it to a larger academic network. Unquestionably, climate change adaptation is a “wicked problem,” especially in a region as ecologically, culturally, and socially diverse as the Southeast. Only by collaborating with individuals from different professional areas, academic fields, and personal backgrounds can a young researcher like myself succeed in seeing a bit more of the full picture.

Research Interests

My research investigates the extent to which urban forests across the Southeast are ready for climate change. Specifically, my teammates and I plan to assess the ways that changing climatic conditions are likely to impact communities that experienced the historical vexations of redlining, air pollution, and infrastructural discrimination, aiming to support municipal managers in protecting increasingly vulnerable urban forests and resident groups. Our project includes a comprehensive overview of tree canopy cover and species distribution in 160 large municipalities, and an in-depth community science case study on Durham, NC’s public forest.