Laura Medick has always been curious about nature. As a child, she would often visit her grandmother’s ranch, where she was surrounded by different plants and animals. Yet, it wasn’t until a camping trip with her Girl Scout troop that she realized she truly loved the outdoors. When she sat down for the first time to roast marshmallows with her friends, she decided that her future career had to have a tie to the environment.

Today, Laura is Precinct 4’s sole forester — the only person in charge of planting, nurturing, and maintaining thousands of trees across Precinct 4. On top of managing tree plantings at Precinct 4 facilities, Laura coordinates with community members, organizations, and businesses to plant trees on their property.

Her job isn’t all tree planting, though. Laura regularly works alongside her parks’ team members to manage invasive species, teach community center programming, and help the infrastructure team with large scale projects, such as the Barbara Quattro Alief Forest.

“I grew up around the garden that my grandmother and my mom would take care of,” said Laura. “I also think about the way they took care of our family. I think those nurturing aspects passed down to me. For me, forestry is about nurturing the land and making sure it’s there tomorrow for future children.”

Putting down roots

In 2016, Laura was working as a forester at the City of Houston. While she enjoyed her work, she heard about an opportunity at Precinct 4 to plant native fruit and nut trees along the Spring Creek Greenway Corridor. She jumped at the chance to join the project.

At the same time, Laura was collecting thousands of acorns and seeds from historical trees across Texas, which eventually became the Legacy Trees Project. From Texas A&M’s Century Tree to Galveston’s Borden Oak, each of the trees has a storied history that spans over a century.

To Laura, the Legacy Trees Project is more than a way to teach people about Texas’s past—it’s a way to preserve the environment for the next generation.

“I see the Legacy Trees Project as what we’re passing down to our children,” said Laura. “Yes, there’s this cool collection of historical Texas trees, but any tree that we plant as a community, whether it's a historical Texas tree or not, I would consider it a legacy tree.”

Out of the over 5,000 trees Laura has planted, some stand out among others. She remembers working alongside community members to plant a seedling of A&M’s Century Tree in memory of a mother who had passed away. Now, the family has a permanent reminder of their mom in their local park.

Branching out

Trees have their best chance at surviving when planted through the fall and early spring. So, when Houston enters late spring and summer, Laura switches gears.

In the past, she’s taught educational classes at community centers, but this year she’s also hosting bilingual story time for young children. As a mother, she knows how important it is to read to her daughter, but this new program is about more than education—it’s about connecting to your roots.

“I love reading to my daughter,” said Laura. “I want her to know my culture as well, not just her father's. Passing that on the language and making sure she knows where the other half of her family came from is really important to me. That inspired me to create this program.”

Laura is always looking for volunteers to help with planting and caring for trees across the Precinct. If interested, residents can email her at [email protected] or visit Precinct 4’s events page to find opportunities.