City of Hartford - Forester
50 Jennings Rd, Hartford, CT 06120
860-757-0683 or 860-372-2674
Heather.Dionne@hartford.gov
Heather Dionne is the City Forester for the City of Hartford, Connecticut. Since 2012, she has been managing an urban forest that includes 434 shoulder road miles and almost 3,000 acres of greenspace and forestland. Educating the public on the importance of trees, climate change and proper arboricultural practices are her focus. She has worked hard to encourage decision makers to see trees as a necessity and not just a luxury, especially regarding budgeting and planning. Seeing first-hand the social injustices in a city relating to tree canopy gives her a vantage from which she can bring stake-holders together to come up with solutions.
Heather studied Urban and Community Forestry at Unity College in Maine, is a licensed arborist in Connecticut and with the International Society of Arboriculture, and recently acquired her certification as a supervising forest products harvester in CT.
Urban Forestry Consultant
67 Old Farms Road
Durham, CT 06422
Phone: 203-937-3052
Email: cmdonnelly.northford@gmail.com
Chris retired as the Urban Forestry Coordinator with CT DEEP after two decades in 2020. In this position, he had to good fortune to work with a variety of people throughout the State of Connecticut on a wide range of projects. This included tree planting projects, educational programs, outreach efforts, and much, much more. These experiences have helped foster a deep appreciation of both people and trees, as well as how they are connected together. It is because of these experiences that Chris wishes to keep his involvement with urban forestry and urban trees.
Department of Forestry and Horticulture
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station - Assistant Agricultural Scientist
PO Box 1106, 123 Huntington Street
New Haven, CT 06504-1106
Phone: 203-974-8491
Cell: 541.224.3137
Email: Susanna.Kerio@ct.gov
Dr. Susanna Keriö joined the CUFC in 2021, and has worked at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) since 2020. Through her research at CAES and her role in the CUFC, she aims to support the work of urban and community forestry professionals in maintaining a healthy urban forest canopy in New England. Dr. Keriö’s current research at the CAES focuses on developing innovative management strategies to reduce urban tree stress and to support tree health in urban environments under the changing climate. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Helsinki, followed by postdoctoral research at Oregon State University. Her research interests include factors affecting tree stress resistance, tree stress detection based on molecular cues, and tree stress management. Additionally, Dr. Keriö works on clonal tree propagation and tissue culture, to support tree germ plasm conservation and tree cultivar development.
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Division of Forestry – Urban Forestry Coordinator
79 Elm Street
Hartford, CT 06106-5127
Phone: 860.500.0152
Email: danica.doroski@ct.gov
Danica Doroski received her Ph.D. and M.S. from the Yale School of the Environment. She is now the State Urban Forestry Coordinator at Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Prior to moving to Connecticut, Danica worked in New York City for the New York Restoration Project and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and in Philadelphia at the Morris Arboretum.
Active in Various Projects
Phone: 860-604-6292
Email: ronpitz1957@gmail.com
Ron Pitz is the retired executive director of Knox, Inc. A non profit organization that uses horticulture and agriculture to strengthen and feed urban communities. During his 25 years working with Knox he fully realized the importance of preserving existing and planting new trees in urban areas. Under his leadership thousands of trees were planted in Hartford by Knox and volunteers. He continues his work organizing tree planting events in Bloomfield with the Wintonbury Land Trust and Trees for Bloomfield. He also is a DEEP certified Master Wildlife Conservationist and a UConn certified Master Gardener.
Connecticut Forest & Park Association
16 Meriden Road
Rockfall, CT 06481
Phone: 860-346-TREE (8733)
Website: www.ctwoodlands.org
Email: ehammerling@ctwoodlands.org
Eric Hammerling has been the Executive Director at the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA) since 2008. He has a M.S. in Environmental Science/Rangeland Management from U.C. Berkeley, and a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan. Eric directs CFPA’s policy programs, is an active testifier on forest, park, and trail-related legislation at the state Capitol, and has chaired several policy efforts including the Forests Subgroup of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, the State Vegetation Management Task Force, and the Policy on Resilient Forests for Connecticut’s Future (PRFCT Future) working group.
Connecticut Department of Transportation - Landscape Designer
2800 Berlin Turnpike
Newington, CT 06131
Phone: 860-594-2612
Email: r.bruce.villwock@ct.gov
Agricultural Scientist
Valley Laboratory
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
153 Cook Hill Road
Windsor, CT 06095
Phone: 860-208-3517
Email: Richard.Cowles@ct.gov
Dr. Rich Cowles joined the CUFC in 2018. He has worked at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station since 1994. His research has included conservation of eastern hemlocks and ash trees by protecting them with systemic insecticides until biological control becomes established. Although trained as an entomologist (with degrees from Cornell and Michigan State Universities), he also has been investigating various plant diseases, including boxwood blight and beech leaf disease, and phytophthora root rot in Christmas tree plantations. Dr. Cowles has been working since 2010 on genetic improvement of fir trees for growing on Christmas tree farms, and with his wife operates a small farm in Broad Brook, CT.
KENEY PARK SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT
Founder and Executive Director, Keney Park Sustainability Project
Email: herb@keneyparksustainability.org
Herbert “Herb” Virgo is the Founder and Executive Director of the Keney Park Sustainability Project (KPSP). He has seventeen years of experience working with the target population of youth. Herb is a member of the Climate Stewardship Council and works closely with the Public Works Department in Keney Park.
Herb has seven years of experience as the Event Coordinator for the Family Day Festival overseeing all aspects of the festival. Herb also has years of experience as a counselor, teacher, and case manager of youth at a wilderness education program for adjudicated youth and the Florida Department of Children and Family Services.
Herb has also managed the installation of 15 miles of trails in Keney Park. Herb’s commitment to not only the population but to KPSP is honorable and one with integrity. He can be found throughout the project all year and is always willing to support whatever it takes to grow the mission. His calming presence has lifted the KPSP project from grassroots to the growing sustainability in the city of Hartford.
George F. Cloutier Professor in Forestry and Director of the UConn Forest
Assistant Professor – Department of Natural Resources and the Environment & Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Associate Director – Eversource Energy Center
University of Connecticut
Office: 225 WB Young Building, 1376 Storrs Rd., Storrs, CT 06269
Email: Robert.fahey@uconn.edu
Phone: (860) 486-0148
Website: faheylab.weebly.com
Robert Fahey’s primary area of research is Forest Ecology, but his (Bob's) work also includes Urban Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Remote Sensing, and Silviculture. He received his BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University, MS in Forest Science from Oregon State University, and PhD in Forest Ecology and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He previously worked as a Research Scientist at The Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago and continues as a Research Fellow in the Center for Tree Science there. Current research is focused on understanding canopy structure-function relationships in forests, particularly in relation to disturbance resilience. He works across the spectrum of anthropogenic impacts in forests from urban to rural, and is particularly interested in adapting ecological and silvicultural knowledge to human-dominated landscapes.
Aris Land Studio
78 Elm Street
Bridgeport, CT 06605
Phone: 203.606.3130
Email: aris@arisls.com
Website: www.arisls.com
Audubon Connecticut
Bird Friendly Communities Program Associate
Phone: 203-900-3354
Email: jillian.bell@audubon.org
Jillian Bell (she, her, hers) is Audubon Connecticut’s Bird Friendly Communities (BFC) Program Associate. She works with community groups and a suite of program partners to restore native habitat, connect people with nature, and inspire stewardship behaviors in the next-generation of environmental leaders.
Jillian’s ongoing work has supported over 45 schools and community groups in Connecticut and New York in their efforts to green their schoolyards and park spaces by creating native plant habitats on school grounds and restoring native habitats. She does this in part by delivering professional development workshops to teaching staff in order to support them in taking their students outside and in integrating their curriculum with the natural world right outside their doors.
The Nature Conservancy in CT - Urban Conservation Program Manager
55 Church St, Floor 3
New Haven, CT 06510-3029
Phone: (203) 568-6273
Fax: (203) 568-6271
Email: Drew.Goldsman@tnc.org
Drew Goldsman is the Urban Conservation Program Manager for The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut. The Urban Conservation Program provides support to cities across Connecticut, currently with a focus on Bridgeport, embracing natural solutions as an integral way of equitably fostering vibrant and healthy communities. Current initiatives range from supporting a resilient coastline to on-the-ground community engagement. The work includes investments in the urban forest and in green stormwater infrastructure. Drew has a strong background in urban environmental and social justice causes. With past positions focusing on transportation equity and affordable housing policy, Drew believes the built and natural environments are deeply tied and must equitably benefit all residents. Drew holds a Master of Urban Planning from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College.