As a forester, I research the best ways that we can help certain tree species, like oaks or American chestnut, be the largest and fastest growing trees in the forest.
I am extremely detail-oriented, and I don’t get bored easily. These characteristics enable me to take repetitive measurements, explore data through statistics, and read scientific papers. These skills contribute to building a knowledge base that will help us maintain the important plant species we study.
Can we plant an oak seedling that will survive and grow faster than the other trees that are growing in a site after a disturbance, like logging or fire?
I use a height pole to measure tree seedlings that we plant or the natural trees that are growing alongside our planted seedlings. The height pole can measure small trees and trees as tall as 30 feet.
The American chestnuts we planted can grow very fast, sometimes over four feet per year. These trees can quickly dominate an area so that no other trees can possibly compete with them for sunlight, a tree’s most limiting resource. If these American chestnuts survive, they could have a chance to produce nuts for future generations of trees.
In high school, I realized that I enjoyed learning about nature and understanding the complexity and beauty of our natural world. My favorite subject was science, but I didn’t know I wanted to be a scientist until I graduated from college and was offered a chance to get a Master’s degree in Forestry.
