About Shrubscriber (Shrub-scriber)

Shrubscriber is an Edmonton-based tree nursery network that grows community by propagating and planting trees. Since 2021, Shrubscriber has grown to over two hundred members, propagating close to 300 tree species in backyards, community garden plots, balconies, and vacant lots.

When members join Shrubscriber, they receive access to the Shrubscriber community, tree seeds, step-by-step growing instructions, and tree donations. Tree donations support community groups and members in parts of the city that are more prone to climate change impacts.

Shrubscriber Airtable Database

Shrubscriber community activities are supported by a database that tracks each plant being propagated (Index Seminum Table), plant propagation information (Genus species Table), member activities (Shrubscribers Table), neighbourhood demographics (Neighbourhood Table), and donations and distribution (Organization Table, Orders Table, Invoice Table).

The present database can be seen as having three overlapping roles:

1. Plant and Propagation Database
2. Inventory (Tree & Seed) Management
3. Community/Member Resources Management

Project Goals

Shrubscriber aims to create vibrant, biodiverse, and climate-resilient neighbourhoods through community plant propagation and planting. Presently, the community's coordination falls on a small handful of people. The overarching goal of the Shrubscriber database is to help facilitate and automate the organization's ordering, distribution, propagation, planting, tending, and community-building capacity.

A Phased Approach

To achieve the final goal, the project has been divided into smaller phased projects, each taking around 60 hours to complete. This approach allows us to establish well-defined goals and tweak each phase as new work and opportunities emerge. I am very open to discussing the scope of each phase and refining/changing it as needed.

A phased approach provides the potential for students to continue working with Shrubscriber as new phases are defined and published on the Riipen platform.

Phase 1 - Review and Update Plant Database

It is essential to ensure that all of the plant data in the database is accurate and as complete as possible to be useful. This project phase will involve reviewing each plant record, researching information about the plant, and updating/completing the plant record within the database.

Goal 1 Students will familiarize themselves with Airtable and the Shrubscriber database. Students may use their knowledge of database structure to suggest structural changes to the base, tables, or fields.

Goal 2: Students will review the Genus species table and review its data for completeness and accuracy. Incomplete data will be added, and any inaccuracies will be corrected.

Goal 3: Explore the benefits of adding additional fields such as tree height, canopy spread, common diseases, medicinal uses, and native range.

Goal 4 (Stretch Goal): Students will review a cold-hardy woody plant list document and add new plants to the Shrubscriber database.

Goal 1 Students will familiarize themselves with Airtable and the Shrubscriber database. Students may use their knowledge of database structure to suggest structural changes to the base, tables, or fields.

Tasks:

1. Access the database with support from Shrubscriber
2. Review Shrubscriber base, tables, and fields.
3. Use knowledge of database management to suggest any structural changes.

Goal 2: Students will review the Genus species table and review its data for completeness and accuracy. Incomplete data will be added, and any inaccuracies will be corrected.

Goal 3: Explore the benefits of adding additional fields such as tree height, canopy spread, common diseases, medicinal uses, and native range.

Tasks:

1. Review existing Genus species table information for completion and accuracy.
2. Review Genus descriptions and Genus species descriptions for accuracy.
3. Add missing Genus descriptions and Genus species descriptions.
4. Verify the minimum and maximum USDA hardiness zones for each Species
5. Review and add missing plant cards (photos with common and botanical names) using Creative Commons images and a Canva Template.
6. Add fields for tree height and canopy spread.

Goal 4 (Stretch Goal): Students will review a cold-hardy woody plant list document and add new plants to the Shrubscriber database.

Tasks:

1. Scrub a cold-hardy plant inventory document and add new plants to add to Shrubscriber Airtable database.
2. Add plants and all relevant data fields.

Access to Tools and Resources

Candidates will receive free access to the Shrubscriber Community Platform, the Airtable Database, Canva, and relevant web tools.

Weekly Check-In Meetings

At the start of the project, we will determine a weekly standing meeting time that works for everyone involved. The weekly meeting will be an opportunity to check in, establish weekly goals, and collectively troubleshoot any emerging challenges. Weekly meetings will be scheduled for an hour but can be more or less depending on the needs of the group.

Ongoing Communication

Between meetings, we will use the Shrubscriber Community chat feature and the internal communication tools with Airtbale to stay in regular contact and ask questions as needed.