MPS Course work at Cornell, fall 2002 - present

What I did on my MPS or, "there and back again, and again, and again....."

Go to What I did on my MPS (PPT) presentation

In August 2002 I took the plunge and went back to school. In the name of revitalization, I enrolled in the Graduate of Professional Studies program at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I was accepted in the Horticulture program, specifically in the Urban Horticulture Institute. I lived in a cabin at Cornell's Arnot Forest, 20 minutes south of Ithaca three days a week returning home to family and work the rest of the week. I made friends of students and faculty and learned much to enhance my work as an extension educator. Below is a sampling of my work .

Creating the Urban Eden (HORT 491/492)

This course focused on the identification, use, and establishment of woody plants in urban and garden settings. Identification of over 300 Tree and shrub was enhanced by making an herbarium and sketch book of plants studied. Landscape design, along with detailed written specifications integrated plant theory into practical use. A final project implemented what we had learned by creating a new landscape on the Cornell campus

Plant pathology , Independent study
-Guide to Cornell Tree Diseases

I developed this guide to tree diseases based on notes and maps from Professor George W. Hudler. This guide simply lays out the locations of diseases in a logical order. The diseases selected were limited to those commonly seen on trees in the northeast and available within a reasonably walking tour on the Cornell campus (surprisingly there are quite a few). The guide includes signs and symptoms to look for at various times of the year.

Natural Resources, Independent study
- Crop Tree Management

The results of my study suggest that crop tree management should be started with pole sized trees (6-10" DBH - Diameter at Breast Height) and that in most cases ALL competing trees should be removed from around each crop tree. Sugar Maple, however showed little difference between two and four sided release, which would support leaving more trees per acre in a sugar bush.

Horticulture, Independent Study
- Viburnum Identification Guide

This key was developed as part of the Viburnum Leaf Beetle - Citizen Scientist project. It was targeted for users with little or no horticulture knowledge and relies heavily on leaf characteristics. It will help you identify viburnums most common in the range of the viburnum leaf beetle in the Northeast US and eastern Canada.

MPS Project
- Community Forestry Master Planning

Most of the urban forests in New York State occur in small communities that often can not budget for the services of a dedicated city forester. The Cornell Cooperative Extension Program Work Team on Community Forestry felt that these communities were being underserved. To address this problem, we felt the initial step was to developing a fast, reliable and inexpensive method to get a street tree inventory. I created a series of web pages that described the project so that other communities could learn about our process to replicate or participate.

Go to my Master Planning Thesis presentation (PPT)