Greg Blick (University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
I was fortunate to be placed
with New York City's Division
of Forestry for my SMA internship last summer. Coming from
central Wisconsin, many of my
friends wondered why I would go
to America's densest concrete
jungle to work with trees. Upon
arrival, I learned that I was in the
perfect spot. The City was right in
the middle of a campaign to plant
a million trees in ten years. The
forestry division was just launching a new storm response system which I was able to help test
out. This system proved essential in dealing with the aftermath
of superstorm Sandy. Also, the
City is at the forefront of using
green infrastructure as a means
to reduce stormwater runoff and
water treatment costs.
My boss, Jeff Watson, had a
multi-faceted program in place for
me when I arrived. I helped survey planting sites in Brooklyn. I
helped the Staten Island forester
check on trees that citizens and
officials had questions about. I
help supervised a block-planting
project for a morning and shadowed a tree inspector at construction sites. My main emphasis was
on tree condition ratings, inventory, and plan development. I
spent several days helping do risk
assessments in Manhattan parks
using both the low tech mallet method and tomography. My
main project was the inventory of
about 1500 trees in the Douglas
Manor neighborhood, followed by
the composition of a detailed
urban forest management plan.
Overall, this was the experience
of a lifetime and has made me
more excited than ever that I am Greg Glick used tomography equipment in
the field as part of risk assessment.
getting into this field.
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