Arborist Gary Raffel (pron. “Rough-FELL”) is a NYSUFC Board member and small business owner based in Bloomfield, south of Rochester. What lead you to arboriculture and urban forestry? Gary Raffel: I grew up with an interest in the outdoors, including hunting and hiking, and from an early [...]
Sharon DiLorenzo is a program manager for Capital Roots, whose vision for the future of the Capital Region is “where every person has access to fresh, affordable, healthy food.” The organization is also involved in urban forestry projects and partnerships. She has served multiple terms on [...]
Karen Emmerich Environmental consultant Karen Emmerich serves on the NYSUFC Board, on the Region 3 ReLeaf Committee, and as Tree Commission Chair for the Town of Warwick. Last February, the Council provided a partial scholarship for Karen to attend the Municipal Forestry Institute (MFI), a [...]
Kristy King on a trip to India. Kristy King is the Director of Forest Restoration for the Natural Resources Group of NYC Parks. Here we get to know Kristy and the work that her department does to bring degraded land back to life in the [...]
Our Council blog was viewed more than 14,000 times in 2015! Here are the top five posts: Sumana Serchan: Get to Know Her! Sumana Serchan is an urban forester with NYC Parks and Recreation. Sumana has a master’s degree in Environmental Management from the Yale School of [...]
Laura Grant NYS DEC Urban Forestry Program Manager Mary Kramarchyk says, “Summer 2015 was the first time our program hosted an intern. Having several projects in mind and not having enough time to do them myself, I set our new student guest on the quest of [...]
Rebecca measuring planting depth for a scarlet oak on the Morrisville State College campus on Arbor Day, 2014. Rebecca Hargrave is an assistant professor at Morrisville State College in Madison County in the central part of our state. She served on the NYSUFC Board for [...]
Paul DiPietro is owner and president of Visual Landscapes, through which he specializes in design, preservation, enhancement, and professional plant health care for site management. Paul is a CNLP NYSNLA (Certified Nursery & Landscape Professional – New York State Nursery & Landscape Association). He lives in Elmira, [...]
Kim Zhang at Green Lakes State Park in Fayetteville, NY Can you tell us about your childhood influences that foreshadowed getting interested in urban forestry? Kim Zhang: Growing up in the Bronx, I didn’t have many childhood experiences that involved nature. It wasn’t until high [...]
Lori (center) with fellow Tour des Trees riders in Wisconsin in 2014. Photo by R. Jeanette Martin Like so many of our members, Council Treasurer Lori Brockelbank is living a big, passionate life. This includes riding for the third year in a row in the [...]