Due South

Growing a more climate-resilient Christmas tree

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Official 2023 White House Christmas tree cut in Ashe County, NC

Jamie Bookwalter

It’s planting season for a lot of crops, including Christmas trees, which are a huge industry in North Carolina. Frasier firs, which represent the vast majority of Christmas trees grown in North Carolina, face a lot of threats during their ten-year growing cycle, especially from climate change.

Co-host Jeff Tiberii talks with North Carolina State assistant professor Justin Whitehill, who runs the NC State Christmas Tree Genetics Program, about his efforts to grow trees that can be harvested sooner, hold onto carbon more efficiently, and look more like the “perfect Christmas tree”– with a goal to benefit growers, consumers and the environment.

Guest

Justin Whitehill, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Christmas Tree Genetics, North Carolina State University

Due South

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

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Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

See stories by Rachel McCarthy