New, hands-on course engages students in practice of urban forestry

Students adjust a lead line for climbing a tree
Students adjust a lead line for arboricultural tree climbing.

A new course at the 成人直播 has engaged students in the care and management of tree populations in urban settings, a concept known as urban forestry.

The course, which wrapped on June 24, introduced students to the urban forest as a social construct, environmental feature, and phenomenological experience. Through a combination of readings and field work experience, students explore the relationship between people and the urban forest from historical, psychological, sociological, legal, policy, environmental, and global perspectives.

Coursework involved identifying urban trees and learning how to measure and assess them; collecting social and arboricultural data; evaluating ways in which people interact with the urban forest; and working through the multi-faceted process of selecting and planting trees, among other hands-on tasks.

The course鈥檚 instructor, Michael Duddy, J.D., M.P.P.M., adjunct assistant teaching professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and School of Marine and Environmental Programs, said teaching urban forestry is important because of the influx of people moving to urban areas.

鈥淭eaching urban forestry is important because more and more people are living in towns and cities, and urban greening is emerging as a key environmental goal,鈥 said Duddy, a board-certified master arborist and a professional licensed forester.

The course, which had four inaugural students, is ideal for those who wish to become arborists, like Brian Brabant (Environmental Science, 鈥23).

鈥淚 learn the best and have the most fun when I鈥檓 outside,鈥 Brabant remarked. 鈥淚鈥檓 already planning on taking the International Society of Arboriculture exam to become certified, and this class is preparing me for that.鈥

Another student, Terry Sun (Environmental Science, 鈥22), said the hands-on nature of the course was one of the reasons why he changed his major from sport and recreation management to

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 get any better than this,鈥 he said during one outdoor recent class, in which Duddy demonstrated proper tree climbing techniques for arboricultural purposes. In other classes, students have inventoried trees in Portland's Lincoln Park and pruned trees at Gull Crest Park in Cape Elizabeth. Students also participated in daylong field trip to the Arnold Arboretum just outside Boston.

鈥淭his experience will stick with me well after the course ends,鈥 Sun added.

The course is one of several that will benefit from a $23,000 Project Canopy Assistance Grant awarded to the from the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry鈥檚 Maine Forest Service. The grant will go toward funding the creation of a digital inventory of trees on both 成人直播鈥檚 Biddeford and Portland campuses.

The project鈥檚 goals are to collect the tree data necessary for 成人直播 to develop a . The grant award will support the University鈥檚 broader goals of using the inventory as an important teaching asset for courses such as urban forestry.

"Urban forestry lies at the heart of the global urban greening movement,鈥 said Duddy. 鈥淭he new course offering, the ability to hire and train urban forestry interns, and the tree inventory itself will all help provide 成人直播 students with globally important skills and education.鈥

Students examine a tree on the Biddeford Campus
Michael Duddy demonstrates proper tree climbing technique using ropes
Students use technology, including smartphones, to identify arboricultural maladies
Brian Brabant adjusts a lead line as a skills-building exercise