Most people can tell a story about being a child and climbing high in a tree, only then stopping to consider how the heck they were going to get down. Jennifer Teegarden is no different, though she experienced that brief moment of panic among the branches of a tall white pine tree in Itasca State Park. That was a few decades ago, but unlike so many other people, the time has done nothing to sap her excitement for trees.

"When I was younger, one of my favorite things to do was climb trees," said Teegarden, 42, who works as a forestry outreach specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "I still like climbing trees, which I do these days with my daughter. We've got an apple tree in our backyard that's great for climbing."

Part of Teegarden's job — both as a mother and for the DNR — is to make trees fun and to find interesting ways to pass along her excitement. One of the ways she has is through a social media campaign called #31DaysOfTrees Challenge. It runs through May, which is Arbor Month, to spotlight the health benefits of trees. May also is meaningful for Teegarden because it's Skin Cancer Awareness Month — and she's a 17-year skin cancer survivor. The discovery of a cancerous mole on her lower back in 2000 shelved her dream of becoming a field forester, but gave her a unique perspective from which to trumpet all the positive aspects of trees.

"If I am going to be outside, I'd rather be in the woods as opposed to out in an open park area, and I've always had that kind of mentality," Teegarden said. "But I'm less inclined to want to be outside, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (when ultraviolet rays are most intense), if it's really bright and I have nowhere to get away from the sun. If I'm outside when the sun is out, I'm always sticking to the shade from trees."

Trees are given credit for cleansing air, decreasing stressful noise and helping reduce skin cancer. Here are edited excerpts from a recent conversation with Teegarden:

On landing in forestry

When I enrolled in college at the University of Minnesota, I was going to major in chemical engineering. At orientation I realized I was on the totally wrong path. I still took classes a chemical engineer would take, but I also signed up for a one-credit orientation to ­natural resources class. Right away I knew that's what I wanted to do. I switched over to the college of natural resources and in 1997 graduated with distinction. At the time, there were very few jobs in urban and community forestry. So I went back to school and got a teaching license in earth science. I taught for eight years before deciding I needed to return to my roots, which was forestry. I was hired by the DNR as a forestry outreach specialist in 2008 and have been here ever since.

On discovering cancer

In the summer of 1991 — the year before my senior year in high school — I went down to Texas with a friend and got severely burned from sun tanning. There were blisters all over my back. When the tan wore off, I had all these new moles all over my body. I monitored them, and in 2000 I noticed a mole on my lower back that had started to change in color and grow. It turned out to be melanoma. Because I caught it early, all they needed to do was remove the mole and some tissue around it. It hadn't spread anywhere else, but the oncologist told me to avoid excess exposure to the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

On her outdoor activity

My family always went camping every year, and exercise has always been important to me, so when we went camping my sister and I would go on nice, long hikes. Camping and hiking and exploring outside — that's my passion. One thing I really like is to hike in the mountains, or anywhere with an elevation change. I went to the Grand Canyon once and hiked all the way down to the bottom and back up in one day. One of my favorite places to hike now is the Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield. There are little patches where they are trying to restore prairie, but otherwise the rest of the trail system is shaded.

On the benefits of trees

Slowly, this concept of there being health benefits of trees has been coming up in urban and community forestry. You always think of trees and environmental benefits, and trees and economic benefits, but now people also are talking about the health benefits. It's easy to go outside and sit next to a tree and read a book. If you're feeling stressed out, go for a hike. And even if you can't get to a forested environment, find a local park that has some trees in it.

Freelance writer Joe Albert is from Bloomington. Reach him at writerjoealbert@gmail.com.

The Arbor Month Challenge
How to participate: Post on social media a photo or video of yourself enjoying trees. Include the hashtag #31Days
ofTrees. When posting on Facebook include @MinnesotaDNR. When the challenge concludes at the end of May, the agency will select the five best entries. Winners will receive a free annual state park permit and have 10 trees planted in their honor at one of Minnesota's state forests.