City Trees

Students and young or new professionals like Judith Oppong have chosen SMA as their professional affiliate when they join or renew their International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) membership. Through profiles in City Trees, SMA seeks to help the students and young or new professionals get even better connected to folks in the larger urban forestry world. My name is Judith Oppong, and I am a PhD student in the Southern University and A&M College (SUBR) Department of Urban Forestry, Environment, and Natural Resources. I am in my final semester and will likely grad- uate in May. My doctoral research focuses on evaluating the impacts of the soil amendment biochar on physical (compactness and water holding capacity) and chemical (nutrient profile, organic matter, and carbon content) properties of soils, especially in urban areas where soil degra- dation is rampant. With this research, I aim to increase knowledge and understanding of the importance of bioenergy and bio-based products in reducing the human carbon and ecological footprint on the environment. I earned my undergraduate degree in Geography and Natural Resources with a minor in Dance Studies from the University of Ghana, and I earned a master's degree in Geography/Planning from the University of Alabama. I was actually a doctoral student in an urban and regional planning program when I got to know and applied to the SUBR Urban Forestry program. I was skeptical at first because the urban forestry field was very new to me. However, after my first couple of classes, I fell in love with the program. The fact that urban forestry combines elements of geography and plan- ning (among so many things) makes it even more fun and rewarding. My years in the SUBR Urban Forestry program have nurtured my desire to help bridge and enhance the human-nature relationship, especially in urban areas where individualism and social isolation is the norm. Growing up as I did in an agrarian community in Ghana, social cohesion was a common practice—so much so that we had communal labor Sundays where both the young and old came together to work together on com- munity cleanliness. This was one way for new residents to integrate themselves into the community, enhancing their sense of belonging. Until the pandemic, most urbanites had little or no relationship with their immediate environment; they were missing that human-nature bond. I'm hoping to get into the environmental services field where I can contribute to both research and implementation of programs and policies that will bridge the gap between urban dwellers and their environment. My ideal work environment will be one where I get to be in the field, implementing programs to enhance the safety, health, and overall wellbeing of people. I am an avid Korean (K-) Drama fan who makes yearly lists of dramas to watch. I am also a fan of romance books. And of course, as someone who minored in dance, I love dancing. I am a rural girl through and through; you can take the girl out of the rural community, but you cannot take the rural life out of her! The Future of SMA Young Professional Judith Oppong Judith Oppong on a day off with friends by the Mississippi River. Judith conducting physical analysis on soils for her dissertation. urban-forestry.com 15

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