About Sarah Hines and Morgan Grove

Sarah Hines works as the Urban Field Station coordinator in the Research & Development branch of the USDA Forest Service, linking scientists and scientific information with communities and decision makers at local and regional scales to inform the shared stewardship of our nation’s forests. She received a BA in biological anthropology from Harvard and MS and MBA degrees from the University of Michigan.

Morgan Grove is the Team Leader for the Baltimore Urban Field Station in the Research & Development branch of the USDA Forest Service. He has been the lead for the Baltimore Urban Wood Project for the past seven years, which started with the a study plan of instruction, “Grove, urban wood, figure it out.” He has a BA in architecture and environmental studies from Yale College and a MS in community forestry and PhD in social ecology from Yale University.

From Waste to Wealth: Developing & Financing an Urban Wood Economy, Part 2

Fortifying the urban wood economy in Baltimore and replicating success in other cities becomes easier with a national partner who is willing to buy wood from multiple locations and has a national level impact. One of the ways that we have begun scaling is through a partnership with Room & Board, a modern furniture and home decor retailer committed to sustainable practices and American craftsmanship. The company was intrigued by the story of the deconstructed wood and the social and environmental good it was enabling.
Access to capital is another critical component to scaling and replicating the urban wood economy. Our work has explored social impact investing through a partnership with Quantified Ventures. A popular form of social impact investing is called pay-for-success financing.

From Waste to Wealth: Developing & Financing an Urban Wood Economy, Part 1

Post-industrial cities face a suite of interconnected problems. Reusing urban wood can be viewed as a systems solution to a complex problem – a means by which to begin to renew and revitalize lives and communities as well.