Joe McBride

Vegetation and ecological analysis; urban forestry; historic landscape restoration.

My philosophy in education is to provide both knowledge and experiences where students can apply the knowledge to solving problems of landscape design, land use planning, and resource management. I believe students must develop a dedication to land stewardship based on a scientific understanding of the characteristics and dynamics of landscape regions.

My teaching, research, and professional practice is aimed at application of ecological understanding to landscape planning and management. I teach courses dealing with basic principles of ecology and courses dealing with the application of ecology to planning and management. My research has spanned a spectrum from urban to wildland studies. At its primary focus has been an interest in understanding how different land use activities influence patterns of plant succession. The professional practice I am engaged in is concerned with vegetation management.  

Professor McBride's current research involves projects on (1) the effects of urban forests in the reduction of air pollution in China, (2) the composition, structure, and function of urban forests in different biomes, (3) the role of fire in riparian woodlands of the Sierra Nevada, and (4) wind patterns, micro-climates, and windthrow hazard in urban areas.

Professor McBride's professional projects include the Vegetation Management Plan for the Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, CA; Urban Forest Management Plan for Presidio of San Francisco; Restoration Plan for Sutro Baths, GGNRA, San Francisco; Oak Restoration Management Plan for Stanford University Academic Reserve Lands, Palo Alto, CA; analysis of boulevard trees for El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA. Professor McBride is Chair of the Forest Science Division of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. In addition to his teaching, Professor McBride has worked as a consulting Forester and Landscape Ecologist in the Bay Area for over 40 years. His consulting work focuses on the preparation of vegetation analysis and management. His clients have included federal, state, county, and city agencies, legal firms, corporate land owners, private land owners, and foreign governments.

Built Work

• Restoration of Marine Terrace Coastal Grasslands. The Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, California, 2000
• Re-establishment of Monterey Cypress Hedgerows. The Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, California, 2005
• Lands End Trail Restoration and Forest Management Plan. GGNRA. San Francisco, California, 2006
• Restoration Plan for Monterey Cypress and Coastal Bluff Plant Communities. Seal Rock Overlook Area. GGNRA. San Francisco, California, 2007
• Restoration of the Gardens on Alcatraz Island, GGNRA. San Francisco, California, 2008
• Historic Forest Restoration. Pacific Coast Trail: Golden Gate Overlook. GGNRA. San Francisco, California, 2011

Professional Projects

• Analysis of wind patterns in relation to forest stands at the Presidio of San Francisco, California
• Vegetation management strategies for Lands End. GGNRA, San Francisco, California
• Planting Plan for restoration of coastal scrub communities. GGNRA, San Francisco, California
• Vegetation Management Plan for The Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, California
• Air Pollution Reduction by the Urban Forest in Ningbo, China
• Urban Forest Component, San Francisco Better Streets Plan. San Francisco, California

Exhibitions

Bookworks 2009. Skylight Gallery. San Francisco Public Library Main Branch. June 20 through August 15, 2009 – “Slither: Poisonous Snakes of the United States”

Bookworks 2011. Skylight Gallery. San Francisco Public Library Main Branch. June 18 through August 7, 2009 – “Thirty-six Views of Mt. Tamalpais”

LD ARCH 110 Ecological Analysis LD ARCH 201 Ecology and Urban Design LD ARCH 223 Introduction to California Landscape Regions LD ARCH 225 Urban Forest Planning and Management ESPM 101A Ecology of the Sierra Nevada ESPM 102A Resource Ecology ESPM 182 Forest Operations Management ESPM 191C The American Forest

Merit Award for Stanford University Vegetation Management Plan. ASLA. 1983 Resources Preservation Award for San Francisco Presidio Study. National Resources Council. 1987 Distinguished Teaching Award. University of California. 1991 Carl Alwin Schenck Award for Distinguished Teaching. Society of American Foresters. 1992 Honor Award for Sutro Baths Historic Restoration Plan. ASLA. 1993 Donald P. Gasser Award for Distinguished Contributions to Forestry Education. University of California. 1997 and 2007 Fellow Society of American Foresters. 1997 Seal of the College of Natural Resources. University of Tehran. 1999 Research Award International Society of Arboriculture – 2003 Elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Forestry – 2004 Keynote Speaker – Annual Meeting of the International Society for Arboriculture. Honolulu, Hawaii. July 2007 Outstanding Field Course Teaching Award, College of Natural Resources, University of California, 2008 Keynote Speaker – Ohio Conference on Urban and Community Forestry. Ohio State University. Columbus, Ohio. October 2009 The Outstanding Educator Award. Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, 2009 The California Preservation Foundation Award for “Restoration of the Gardens on Alcatraz Island” – 2009 Keynote Speaker – International Conference on Urban Forestry in Challenging Environment. Beijing Forestry University. Beijing, P.R.C., September, 2010 Best in Practice Award, Northern California APA - San Francisco Better Streets Plan, 2010 Charter Award, Congress for New Urbanism - San Francisco Better Streets Plan, 2011

Stilgenbauer, J. and J. R. McBride. 2010. "Reconstruction of Urban Forests in Hamburg and Dresden after World War II." Landscape Journal 29(2): 144-161.

Yang, J., L. Zhao, J.R. McBride, and P. Gong. 2009. "Can you see green? Assessing the visibility of urban forests in cities." Landscape and Urban Planning 91(2): 97-104.

Lacan, I. and J. R. McBride. 2009. "War and Trees: the destruction and replanting of the urban and peri-urban forest of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina." Urban Forestry & Urban Greening (8): 315-323.

Lacan, I. and J.R. McBride. 2009. "City Trees and Municipal Wi-Fi Networks: Compatibility or Conflict?" Journal of Arboriculture 35(4): 203-211.

McBride, J. R. Thirty-six views of Mt. Tamalpais. Venom Press, San Francisco: 86p.

McBride, J.R. 2008. "A method for characterizing urban forest composition and structure for landscape architects and urban planners." Arboriculture and Urban Forestry 34(6): 359-365.

McBride, J. R. 2007. "Urban Forest. In: San Francisco Better Streets Plan." San Francisco Planning Department (2010). Pp.173-185.

Yang, J., J. R. McBride, Jinxing Zhou, and Zhenyuan Sun. 2005. "The urban forest in Beijing and its role in air pollution reduction." Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 3: 65-78.

Yang, J. and J. R. McBride. 2003. "A technique for street tree planting in Beijing." Arboricultural Journal 27: 1-10.

Wu, Z., McBride J. R., Nowak D. J., Yang J. & Cheng S. 2004. "Effects of urban forest on air pollution in Hefei city." Journal of Chinese Urban Forestry 1: 39-43.

Russell, W. H. and J. R. McBride. 2003. "Landscape scale vegetation-type conversion and fire hazard in the San Francisco Bay Area open spaces." Landscape and Urban Planning. 64: 201-208.

McBride, J. R. and A. Mossadegh. 2000. "The urban Forests of Tehran." Arboriculture Journal. 24: 155-173.

Miller, P. R. and J. R. McBride. 1999. "Oxidant Air Pollution Impacts in the Montane Forests of Southern California." Springer (Ecological Studies 134). New York. 424 p.