Open-Ended Question:
What makes you happy
to be a member of SMA?
Responses to this question were
mostly about four things:
1.
Networking and "being with my
[urban/municipal forestry] people"
2.
A good balance of technical information
and big picture in educational offerings
3.
Learning from one another
4.
Professional recognition
Figure 5. The options for "What language do you use to describe yourself and your work?" yielded 43% of
respondents saying Urban Forester or another title with Urban Forestry in it, while 21% of respondents checked
"Municipal Arborist," and 16% checked "City Forester." Titles alluding to Nature-Based Solutions (5% of survey
respondents) are gaining traction in Europe. Only 2% of respondents identified as Landscape Architects,
and 14% of respondents did not identify with any of the titles given (they checked "Other Entities.")
Some standout comments to "What makes
you happy to be a member of SMA?" follow.
"The uniqueness of our community (SMA is the
big tent that brings together everyone caring
for trees and focused on people in the spectrum
from arboriculture to urban forestry), AND the
role only SMA plays in providing leadership
training in the space of urban forestry."
"[SMA is the] only thing that comes
close to urban forestry."
"So glad to have an organization that is specifically
for my line of work. Municipal arborists can feel all
alone within the city function. Although their work
touches all departments, sometimes it feels like I am
again speaking Latin, but not about tree names. It
is my hope that municipal arborists can share ideas
and challenges about issues they are dealing with."
"I feel like I found my people! I've been very lucky to
receive support through the membership program
and I believe deeply in the work we do. I appreciate
that SMA is committed to growing our professionalism
and bringing more people into our field."
"I get to see old friends and make new ones." >>
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