City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/648999
SMA Board Member Profile: Sarah Morris Sarah Bridges Morris joined SMA when it first merged its conference with the Partners in Community Forestry conference in 2012. She has worked on or with the SMA Conference Committee for three years and is now in her sec- ond year of serving on the SMA Board. Can you tell us about your educational trajectory? Sarah Morris: I graduated in 1979 with a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Limestone College, a small college in South Carolina. I started with a pre- med curriculum. During my freshman year, my bota- ny professor asked me to work for her (payment was in orchids), and when I walked into her greenhouses where she was hybridizing slipper orchids, I fell in love with plant science! I never looked back. Your career trajectory? SM: My career trajectory has been a winding one. Coming from a limited resource area and being a female in the green industry in the 1970s, the paths that existed were virtually unattainable or had never been traversed by a female in my area. I worked two to three jobs simultaneously for the first ten years of my green industry career. The industry as a whole was under-compensated. Even though I had to work very hard for salary increases and work very long hard hours to gain respect, I loved my work. In 1986 I left my position as a grower at the third largest nursery in the nation and moved to an out- door-lover's dream job. I took a position managing a 700-acre (283 ha) nature preserve for the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, working with plants, using detailed and ever-evolving science. I am currently managing Charlotte's Capital Improvements Landscape Section of the City's Landscape Management Division. We review capital project plans for the protection of existing canopy and have a design and install landscape section. My position is charged with many facets of trees as it pertains to construction, landscape design, and installation, but my first love is the science of plants. I feel it is our ultimate responsibility to develop extraordinary, diverse plant palettes for our cities. It is challenging and rewarding to translate a conceptual design into reality by choosing superior plants and providing beautiful, easy to maintain tree plantings and landscapes. What has your involvement in SMA meant to you? SM: My involvement in SMA has made me more aware of how fast the green industry is changing. Our field has gone from young people with bell-bot- tom jeans seeking a job that was clean and green to a quickly-evolving industry with dozens of new facets of work. I don't think that any person can retain all the knowl- edge that is needed to manage today's urban land- scape and urban forestry programs. We must rely on partnerships— and develop clear understandings of evolving knowledge and science. SMA strives to make avenues of partnership, knowledge, and per- sonal growth available to us. What do you like to do in your free time? SM: I am in the woods, enjoying nature's green space. 30 City Trees