Forestry department seeks applicants for national fellowship in urban forestry
The Garden Club of America has again selected Virginia Tech’s forestry department to review and administer its recently established national urban forestry fellowship for qualified U.S. students. Virginia Tech has both undergraduate and graduate programs focusing on the study of urban forestry.
With this fellowship, The Garden Club of America seeks to advance knowledge of urban forests and increase the number of scientists in the relatively new field of urban forestry. A selection committee from Virginia Tech’s Department of Forestry, and including practicing urban forestry scientists, will review applications with The Garden Club of America endorsing their final selection. This marks the second year that the fellowship is being offered. In 2006, Evan Henrich, a senior at Boston College in Massachusetts, and Kelby Fite, a Ph.D. student at Clemson University in South Carolina, each received $4,000 fellowships.
The fellowship is open to both advanced undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in urban forestry, forestry, horticulture, environmental studies, or a closely related field at any four-year college or university degree program in the United States. Recipients must be U.S. students who will be enrolled as juniors, seniors, or graduate students during the fellowship period. The award is for $4,000 and recipients may apply for one additional year of funding.
For more information and online application forms, visit the Urban Forestry Gateway website or contact Susan Day at (540) 231-7264. Application deadline is January 31.
The Garden Club of America strives to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to share the advantages of association by means of educational meetings, conferences, correspondence, and publications, and to restore, improve, and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvement.
Virginia Tech’s Department of Forestry offers the undergraduate degree option in urban forestry, as well as graduate degrees. The College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top five programs of its kind in the nation. Faculty members stress both the technical and human elements of natural resources and instill in students a sense of stewardship and land-use ethics. Areas of study include environmental resource management, fisheries and wildlife sciences, forestry, geospatial and environmental analysis, natural resource recreation, urban forestry, wood science and forest products, geography, and international development.
