UEI forms major strategic alliance with Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. UEI provides a proven set of natural science field study curricula and teacher training materials to enhance LMU's relationship with Los Angeles County Unified School District and participate in programs of the new LMU Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Studies. UEI-West is established.

With support from the USFS and in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Urban Forestry Tools projects are underway in 8 Massachusetts cities.

UEI convenes climate change scenario development workshops for state, city and academic leaders in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts.

UEI forms important strategic alliance with Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. UEI provides Lesley with a "boots-on-the-ground" presence in urban public schools for its acclaimed Graduate School of Education.

UEI's data gathering, data management, mapping and experience working with neighborhood groups plays pivotal role in the response to Worcester's Asian longhorn beetle crisis.

UEI Field Studies curriculum featured as part of a National Science Foundation "project highlights", an honor awarded to less than 1% of NSF recipients.

UEI implements 8 City Roots urban re-greening projects in Boston's most "under-canopied" neighborhoods in partnership with 6 neighborhood associations and 2 religious affiliated non-profits.

UEI develops a model science education program for middle and high schools, impacting over 8,000 Boston youth in the previous seven years and expanding to reach nearly 2000 youth in 2009.

UEI introduces "Urban Forestry Tools" program, which emphasizes urban planning, mapping, data collection and data management as key components of large scale urban re-greening projects.

UEI demonstrates, through four years of external evaluation, that student participants exhibit an increased interest in science, improved confidence in themselves as scientists and increased sense of stewardship for the urban environment.

In tandem with the City of Boston, UEI launches the Boston Urban Forest Coalition and "Grow Boston Greener" to plant 100,000 trees in Boston by 2020.

Working with the Lynch School of Education and the Environmental Studies Program of Boston College, UEI develops, pilots and assesses 8 natural science field studies curriculum modules and teacher training materials for Boston Public Schools.

CityRoots partners with 9 neighborhood groups in Dorchester, Roxbury, Chelsea, East Boston, and Lynn, including over 140 residents, to transform overgrown vacant lots, underutilized parks, and barren streetscapes into beautiful, cared-for community spaces.

UEI leverages over $2.5 million for local open space transformation projects in Chelsea, East Boston, & Lawrence including $1.2 million to restore the urban wild in East Boston to a beautiful park; $650,000 to restore the Chelsea salt marsh and construct a 1 mile walkway.

The City Roots Program is established by UEI to address the need for small scale re-greening projects in underserved neighborhoods. UEI initiates the "Greater Boston Urban Forest Inventory," which would later become the City's "Grow Boston Greener" initiative to plant 100,000 trees by 2020.

UEI forms partnerships with numerous Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA's offering after school and youth mentoring programs focusing on natural science. UEI receives help from more than a dozen VISTA Volunteers in order to deliver field studies curricula in Boston Public Schools.

In late 2002, UEI meets with similar organizations from 6 cities in the Northeast. With help from US Forest Service staff working on urban ecology research projects, UEI helps to launch the Urban Ecology Collaborative (UEC). The purpose of the UEC is to cultivate healthy, safe and vibrant cities through collective learning and united action. The UEC is a partnership of universities, non-profit organizations, and state, local and federal officials working in cities in the Eastern United States. Participating cities currently include Boston, New Haven, New York City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

In 2000, UEI begins measuring its impact on students with the use of a survey called the Science Attitude Inventory (II). UEI administers the survey at the beginning and the end of the school year, to both the students in the program and to control groups of students from the same schools. Over the years, students in the program have demonstrated a measurable increase in their understanding of scientific method and their interest in both environmental science and science in general. Over time, UEI implements this evaluation on an annual basis with the help of Dr. Michael Barnett at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Through the evaluation UEI developed a strong partnership with the Lynch School.