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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/677172
www.urban-forestry.com 15 ture, social sciences, horticulture, or urban planning? What do the few aca- demic programs that are tagged "urban forestry" have to offer? The undergrad- uate program at Virginia Tech, for exam- ple, includes a foundation in forest and tree biology and ecology followed by coursework in soils, hydrology, arbo- riculture, urban tree measurements, policy, management, geospatial analy- sis, community engagement, and urban planning, among others—all geared to prepare students to manage natural resources in the complex municipal environment. Is this too specialized an education, or is it not enough? Although the hiring market in commer - cial tree care is always strong, what municipal careers are open to urban forestry program graduates? Will grad- uate school become a prerequisite for urban foresters? Unfortunately, the confusing picture presented by the present day practice of urban forestry can make recruitment into the profession, development of professional standards and best prac - tices, and promotion within the field difficult. Many urban foresters relate that they "accidentally fell" into the profession—starting out in an allied field and gradually gaining specialized skills and knowledge over the course of their careers. Yet as our body of knowl - edge grows, learning-as-you-go may no longer be the best option, and acciden- tal recruitment isn't enough to support the growing need for urban foresters. It is common for professions (consider landscape architecture as an example) to go through such growing pains. Our highly urbanized, interconnected world is now becoming fully cognizant of the power of interdisciplinary problem solving, and urban forestry should be in the thick of urban decision making. Urban forestry is highly interdisciplinary and also a young and emerging profes - sion—creating a unique opportunity to analyze the state of the profession and map our way forward. Urban Forestry 2020 is making this assessment in the context of university programs, student career goals, professional perceptions in the municipal environment, and net - working. The project team continues to work diligently to be inclusive yet spe- cific in its conception of urban forestry: specific in studying urban forestry—the management of populations of trees in urban settings—yet inclusive in reaching all people working in this field, regard- less of their professional networks. EEEE So what is an urban forester and what is urban forestry? Based on discussions with the steering commit- tee and at various professional meet- ings, we have identified key strengths that professionals designated as "urban foresters" bring to the management of urban green spaces. Urban foresters are more likely than allied professionals (who may practice aspects of urban for- estry—e.g., urban planners, developers, landscape architects, natural resource professionals, or traditional foresters) to be engaged in forest health, invento- ry and risk assessment, planting trees, and arboricultural practices. On the other hand, urban foresters are equally likely to be engaged in green infra- structure planning and less likely to be engaged or consulted in land use planning. Furthermore, while urban foresters feel that they have multiple valuable local or regional networks and organizations that help them problem solve, there is NO universal list of professional devel- opment organizations. How the net- working landscape develops over the next decade may be hard to forecast because communication among profes- sionals is increasingly linked to social media and is highly dynamic. As others have observed, millennials like to push boundaries in career and networking exploration and may quickly form new groups for problem-solving. How effec- tive are such networks at the collective action that is needed to elevate urban forestry as a valued profession? That is uncertain, but what is certain is that we will continue to see changes in urban forestry networking, and they may be quite rapid. Urban Forestry 2020 is using both research and exploratory focus groups and networking to develop meaningful recommendations for urban forestry. To date we have developed and vetted diagrams of urban forestry practice and multiple surveys are either complete or underway concerning perceptions of urban forestry. In one project devel - oped by Virginia Tech doctoral student Keith O'Herrin, 18 months of national job postings for urban foresters have been analyzed against the "body of knowledge" expected of urban forest - ers. We anticipate identifying profes- sional and regional trends: What level of education is required? What types of duties and academic disciplines cluster together? What are the pay scales? West Virginia University graduate stu- dent Andrew Benjamin developed a survey querying the largest 200 cities in the United States on their hiring practices for entry-level urban forest - ers. A companion "snowball" survey solicited this information from those who make entry-level urban forestry hiring decisions. What skills (technical, administrative, and communication) are the managers of our city trees look - ing for when hiring entry-level urban foresters, and do they observe any deficiencies? Are the necessary skills of a municipal forester different from those of other urban forestry profes - sionals (consulting, non-profit, private organization)? Although urban forestry has long worked to promote urban trees and foster more awareness from the public, this has not translated into a sizable upturn in the number of young people seeking urban forestry education or pursuing urban forestry as a profession. Earlier this year, Virginia Tech conducted a survey of first- and second-year college