The GCA Zone VI Fellowship in Urban Forestry - Current Recipients
Established in 2005 with the participation of all clubs in the zone, this fellowship is for advanced undergraduate or graduate students to study urban forestry and related subjects, including the planning, management and horticulture in urban forests and the effects of healthy urban forests on the environment.
2011 Fellows:
Andrew Koeser, a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbanna-Champaign was the Casey Trees Fellow last year and is continuing his research on “How Green Are Urban Trees?” He is testing biologically-based “biopots” in hope of finding an alternative to the plastic pots pervasive in the nursery industry today.
Funded by the Zone VI Clubs in Honor of Joan George.
Christine Moskell is finishing her M.S. at Cornell this fall and plans to get her PhD there in 2014. She has researched several constituencies to ascertain strategies to be used and challenges faced in engaging communities in urban forestry stewardship. Our GCA Zone VI Fellowship in Urban Forestry helped enable her to attend two conferences “worthwhile to her academic and professional development”.
Funded by the Trowel Club in Honor of Nan King.
Basil Iannone, a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago is studying the ecology of Rhamnus carthartica, European Buckthorn where it has invaded the woodlands of the Chicago Wilderness. His GCA fellowship has enabled him to do a study to estimate soil calcium and nitrogen availability in both buckthorn–invaded and buckthorn-free sample points. By detecting belowground factors that contribute to and respond to buckthorn invasion, he has gained insights into the management of this invasive shrub.
Funded by the Casey Trees Endowment Fund.
Ailene Kane Ettinger, a PhD candidate at the University of Washington is “Investigating Barriers to Conifer Regeneration in Seattle’s Urban Forests”. Her fellowship has allowed her to do a research project in Seattle including soil testing for carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, organic content and soil density and funded the use of a University vehicle. Ailene has mentored three undergraduate students and collaborated with the City of Seattle on this project.
Kyle Cooper is in his fourth year of a five-year Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program at Virginia Tech. He is exploring the various ways that Urban Forestry and its related practices can be incorporated into urban landscape design to help improve the physical and mental well-being of people in a disadvantaged urban environment. He will apply his research to his independent study with a hypothetical studio design project using a city setting to educate people about the benefits of urban forestry.
Renee Kirtman will graduate from Northern Kentucky University in December 2011and plans to get a Master’s degree in Ecology/Urban Forestry with a focus on managing invasive species in urban forests. Using three treatment sites for Lonicera mackii, Amur Honeysuckle in KY (restored, replanted and control), she is researching differences in soil nutrient concentrations and processes. Her fellowship is enabling her to gain and refine field and lab techniques.
