Allie Douma
URI Internship Year:
2025
Graduation Year:
2025
Degree:
MEM
Allie Douma is a Masters student at the Yale School for the Environment studying urban ecology and environmental humanities. Allie is originally from Richmond, VA where they grew up whitewater kayaking and exploring the city's amazing park system. Before coming to YSE Allie worked at Miriam's Kitchen, a non profit focused on ending homelessness in Washington D.C. Through their experiences working with Miriam's Kitchen and their passion for accessible urban green spaces, they have become passionate about the intersection of housing and greening. They are excited to put what they have learned in the classroom into action this summer.
Group
Greenspace Log
| Date | Category | Photos | Group | Summary | |
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07/26/2025 |
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Last work day for FERP for the summer season and we had an incredible turn out. We planted 2 witch hazel and 2 inkberry. The area that we have been focusing on has completely changed over the season. It has been an incredible season with this team! |
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07/25/2025 |
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Another week another tree added to the forest! This week we added a service berry to the beginning of the food forest. We also regraded a path to hopefully add some gravel next week. |
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07/25/2025 |
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Another planting day in the garden! We watered and added 12 plants to the garden! It was a great team effort. |
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07/25/2025 |
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Even through the heat we persisted! We got five more plants to add to the garden. We watered and weeded - we are trying to water as much as possible since its been so hot and dry. Our plantings are working though because we saw a monarch flying in the garden! |
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07/24/2025 |
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Final work way of the summer season! We busted it out and planted two trees to add to the Jocelyn Sq Park arboretum. Over the summer the group has really learned how to plant a tree and is now a well oiled machine. |
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07/24/2025 |
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With help from the common ground students we were able to get rid of lots of burning bush! We cut a bunch and we will cut again in the fall, so that hopefully it does not come back. It looks so different from before! We also planted three hay scented ferns to help add to the area as we take away the burning bush. |
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07/23/2025 |
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After a brief break last week we got right back to it watering and weeding the garden. Some friends that have not been in a while showed up and we had a reporter write about the garden. It's looking loved and cared for. |
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07/22/2025 |
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In our second to last session we focused on finishing spreading the mulch along orange street and adding some plants around the trees. The volunteers put in a lot of hard work and the area along Orange looks like a new area! |
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07/18/2025 |
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We planted 10 perennials around the Southern Magnolia to add some color and fill up that space. We planted 4 golden rod, 2 false indigo, 2 bee balm, and 2 asters. We spread some mulch and weeded the area a bit to clean up the space. |
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07/18/2025 |
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We added another tree to the future generation of the trees in Jocelyn Sq. This week we planted a Bur Oak! |
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07/17/2025 |
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This week we focused on trail work, we laid down some wood along the entrance and then cut some birch poles that had fallen to lay them along the trails. Jean picked up trash and Marty kept working on getting rid of the burning bush close to the friends school. |
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07/15/2025 |
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Another week another tree! We are slowly adding more food to the food forest. This week we planted a Sargent crab apple which already has lots of fruit for the birds to eat all fall and winter. We also planted two more witch hazels, another elderberry and another blueberry. We also had a group cut the knotweed again to hopefully control the knotweeds aggressive growth. |
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07/12/2025 |
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FERP this week worked along Betty's Way which connects East Rock and Cedar Hill. The group removed mugwort, multi flora rose, bittersweet, winged euonymous, and honeysuckle. |
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07/12/2025 |
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A special weekend edition for Quarry Park! We planted a mountain laurel and 3 white wood asters. We also identified some more aggressive species such as wineberry and began removing them. |
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07/11/2025 |
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This was a big planting week for the park we planted 2 black eyed susans, 3 inkberry to add evergreens to the park, 2 day lillies, butterfly weed, and swamp milk weed. We are hoping to add some color and some evergreens to the park so that there is some greenery all year round. |
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07/11/2025 |
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It was super hot today, but nonetheless we persisted! We planted 4 black eyed susans, 2 threadleaf coreopsis, 2 swamp milkweed, and 2 butterfly bushes. We are working on adding a lot of color and filling out the space. We also mulched some of the areas with barren soil. |
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07/10/2025 |
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Another week, another tree! We added a swam white oak to the more forested area of the park to fill up the canopy and add more shade to that area. Two group members mulched the rest of the trees - the park is looking great and neighbors are commenting that the park is the best it's looked in many years! |
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07/09/2025 |
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It was anther hot day at rainbow park so we watered and weeded a bit. A few folks walked in and commented on how beautiful the park looks! It is really looking lush! |
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07/09/2025 |
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To add to the more naturalized look of the area we added lots of perennials including 3 oak leaf hydrangeas, 3 false hollys, 3 currants, 2 American Bladdernuts and 3 mock oranges. The group also planted a carolina sweetheart redbud to add some color to the area. We also mulched the area well around the trees and new perennials. It's really looking great! |
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07/08/2025 |
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With the help of students from Common Ground we worked to remove burning bush near the Quaker Friends daycare center to improve site lines. We also planted 3 lady ferns and 3 mountain laurel to hopefully add some native species to the understory of the forest. |
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07/08/2025 |
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The food forest has officially begun! We planted two trees - an American Persimmon and a prairie fire crabapple tree. We had a large crew show up with a lot of new comers and we are hoping to keep up this momentum throughout the next few weeks to get more trees and shrubs in the ground to get this food forest up and running. |
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06/27/2025 |
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The group today worked to weed and mulch the areas that we are going to plant. We are hoping to add lots of color to the garden this year - pinks, blues, yellows, and orange! We are exctied for the rest of the summer to add some color and greenery to the space. |
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06/27/2025 |
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This morning was a big planting day - the group is hoping to fill some of the empty spaces in their garden with pollinator plants and to add lots of the color. The bees were buzzing all around today, so the flowers are working. The first monarch butterfly of the season stopped by! We also started spreading mulch which is making the flowers' colors pop. The garden is looking great and someone biking past told us it looked beautiful! |
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06/26/2025 |
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We had an awesome day today! It finally cooled down, so we were able to plant a tree no problem. We planted a Tulip Tree to add some fall colors and flowers to the space. Some neighbors came out to help. Per usual Kev walked around the park picking up trash and we watered the trees to make sure they had a good drink after the heat. |
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06/26/2025 |
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Early this morning we planted 2 blueberries, 1 witch hazel, and 2 elderberries. We mulched the areas and started planning what we are going to do with the rest of the summer. |
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06/25/2025 |
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Today was extremely hot, so we kept it short. We mulched some areas to prevent weeds and pruned one of the trees to clear up site lines. Since its been so hot we made sure to water everything well. |
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06/20/2025 |
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The garden's goal is to plant perennials for pollinators and fill in the current gaps in the garden. We planted 2 sedum, 3 pink coneflowers, and 3 red coreopsis to add some color and begin filling in some of the gaps. |
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06/19/2025 |
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The group is still working hard to remove burning bush from the entrance close to the friends meeting. Rich is also creating a new path in the park to an old amtrak building. Jean worked on picking up the trash around the park. We are seeing some gooseberries grow in areas where the burning bush was taken out last year, which is exciting. |
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06/18/2025 |
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We continued weeding the garden and clearing out space so all the flowers have room to grow. A lot is about to bloom in the space, so we are excited to see what is looks like throughout the summer! We also fixed the hose holder which had been broken. |
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06/17/2025 |
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We tackled the tree of heaven stumps to help clear a path through the forest. We also solidified what trees we want to plant, so we can get started on those next week! |
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06/14/2025 |
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Six trees! Today was a whole team effort - we planted 3 multi stemmed service berries, a swamp white oak, a buckeye, and a tulip tree. It was a lot of work but it looks completely transformed! We combined forces with the Yale Presidential Public Service Fellowship to make this happen, it was awesome to see everyone come together. |
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06/13/2025 |
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Due to having a little less man power we decided not to do all the mulch. We put the mulch on the path to hopefully kill the weeds along the path and next week will hopefully spread that mulch. We used the scuffle how to get the weeds off of the path in the areas where there is no mulch. |
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06/13/2025 |
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06/12/2025 |
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Hosta day! We transplanted roughly 12 hostas from Rainbow park under the trees at Jocelyn. We also put mulch around four more trees. |
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06/12/2025 |
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Another week of removing invasives - specifically we worked on burning bush and multiflora rose. We have been concentrating our efforts in one area and its really starting to look nice! We are excited to see what is able to grow in the area now that there is more space. |
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06/11/2025 |
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This week we look out a lot of hostas which we transplanted in the back of the garden and I was able to take some to another group. We used the scuffle hoes to clear the path and had people weed out dead grasses. It's looking really nice! |
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06/10/2025 |
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Our goal for the day was to finish girdling the tree of heaven and to tackle the knot weed forest. The city had cut a lot of the knotweed but we chopped down the rest of it to clear up the site lines and give us more space to plant trees and shrubs. |
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06/07/2025 |
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Another big mulching day for FERP! We spread the mulch around the plants on Orange St. so that when the trees are planted next week the mulch will be continuous around the plants and trees. |
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06/06/2025 |
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A great maintenance day for Washington Ave! The goal was to clear up some site lines and get rid of some weeds. We pruned three trees and then cleaned up the bed to the right of the park to hopefully begin planting some new things this summer. Sweet Trixie ran and jumped around as we worked. |
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06/06/2025 |
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A big day for the peace garden! We planted a magnolia tree in the middle of the garden and received some soil for the garden dedicated to mothers who have passed. |
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06/05/2025 |
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To help prevent the plants and trees in the park from being mowed we put wood chips on 9 trees. Kev also walked around to clean up some of the trash. It was a lot of hard work lugging mulch and spreading it all out, but it was worth it! The park already looks great! |
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06/05/2025 |
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During our volunteer hours this week we focused on removing burning bush and multiflora rose in one section of the park. Jean also walked around picking up trash and glass to clean up the park. |
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06/05/2025 |
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It was a big day in the Peace Garden! We planted a magnolia as the center piece of the garden. Then there was a delivery of soil from Neighborhood Housing Services for the garden designated for mothers who have passed. As the summer continues the group is excited to plan and design this new area of their garden. We also continued working on weeding the garden. |
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06/04/2025 |
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Today we worked on cleaning up and maintaining the space. We pruned one tree and a bush to clear up the site lines. Kayla took the scuffle hoe around to clear out the weeds from the paths. Jane brought watermelon for the group as a treat! It was a great first work day. |
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06/02/2025 |
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Today was our day to take down the tree of heaven. We cut them and will go back to get at the roots soon. A few of us also started getting rid of the knotweed. |
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05/31/2025 |
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Today we focused on removing invasive species and spreading mulch along the entrance to the park. It was a big group, so there was a lot of energy and we were able to get it done quickly! A great start to the summer. |
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05/30/2025 |
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Nikki and discussed the plans for the summer as well as some of the issues they have been facing and need help with. We created a plan for weeding and cleaning up the space. After that we hope to add some plants and do some tree pruning. |
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05/30/2025 |
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Today the group got started on some weeding of milkweed and mugwort. Aaron also began removing some plants that died over the winter. As a group we started to plan for the summer. The group is hoping to clean up the area, mulch, plant some more perennials, and plant a tree. They are also hoping to recruit more folks to come help. |
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05/30/2025 |
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Aaron, Paula, Frank and I met at the Peace Garden to begin planning for this summer. This group meets every Friday to weed, plant, and bring water to the garden. |
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05/29/2025 |
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Tracy and Rich walked me around the site, guiding me through the history of the quarry sites and the fossil. We talked through some of the complications the site has been having as well as the plans for the summer. They are hoping to continue removing invasive species, highlight the history of the park more, and hopefully recruit more people to come in and use the park. |
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05/29/2025 |
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Kev and I met at the park to discuss some of the current challenges and the goals for the summer. The group is hoping to continue their work planting around the trees. We are excited to start next week with the first volunteer day of the season! |
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05/27/2025 |
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Jane and I walked around the park and discussed some of the common issues that the park has been facing as well as some of the goals. She is hoping to clear up the site lines and weed some of the overgrown areas. Rainbow park has not been a Greenspace group in a few summers, so we are excited to have consistent volunteering days this summer to clean up the space. |
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05/27/2025 |
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First day of goatville food forest! We walked through the space all together, talked about our goals and got began removing lots of multiflora rose and knotweed. |
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05/23/2025 |
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Planning session for the goatville food forest! We are so excited to get started planting fruiting trees and shrubs for our local ecosystem. |