Chair: Lara Roman
Lara A. Roman is a Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, Philadelphia Field Station. Roman studies urban forest temporal dynamics and her research uses analytical tools from demography and epidemiology to understand urban tree mortality rates and processes. She received a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied tree mortality in Sacramento and Oakland, California. Her studies take a participatory research approach, collaborating with practitioners for study design and implementation. Roman also holds a Bachelors in Biology (concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and Masters of Environmental Studies (concentration in Environmental Biology) from the University of Pennsylvania.
Vice-Chair: Jess Vogt
Jess received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science (Urban Forestry), Master of Public Affairs (in Sustainable Development), and M.S. (in Environmental Science) from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN). She attended Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) for her bachelor’s degree and majored in Environmental Studies and Biology. In September 2015, Jess will be joining the faculty of DePaul University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Studies in the College of Science and Health. Since 2010, Jess has worked with the Bloomington Urban Forestry Research Group (BUFRG; http://www.indiana.edu/~cipec/research/bufrg_about.php). For the past several years, Jess’ research with BUFRG has examined the social and ecological impacts of the coproduction of the urban forest by nonprofit organizations and neighborhood groups in 5 U.S. cities, funded by grants from the U.S. Forest Service. Jess has also been leading the “Costs of Not Maintaining Trees” literature review project, sponsored and coordinated by ISA’s Science and Research Committee. Jess has been in the UTGL working group since its inception in 2011, participating in the Site subcommittee during development of the UTGL monitoring protocols, and has also been on the ISA Student Subcommittee (Membership Committee) since 2013.
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Secretary: Deb Boyer
Deb is an urban forestry project manager at Azavea, a small geospatial software company based in Philadelphia. Deb manages the OpenTreeMap project, an open-source, web-based software tool for collaboratively exploring and
inventorying the urban forest. She has worked with horticultural organizations across the country to use technology and mapping to increase community engagement with urban forestry issues. Deb also works on Azavea's USDA-funded research into how high-performance geoprocessing tools can be used to identify priority planting locations and then model the long-term benefits of trees planted in those areas. She is particularly interested in how technology can be used to support public interaction with urban forests and green space.
inventorying the urban forest. She has worked with horticultural organizations across the country to use technology and mapping to increase community engagement with urban forestry issues. Deb also works on Azavea's USDA-funded research into how high-performance geoprocessing tools can be used to identify priority planting locations and then model the long-term benefits of trees planted in those areas. She is particularly interested in how technology can be used to support public interaction with urban forests and green space.
Web & Communications: John Mills
John Mills is a Research Forester with the USDA Forest Service, Resource Monitoring and Assessment Program of the Pacific Northwest Research Station. Located in Portland, OR, this research program is also known as Forest Inventory and Analysis or FIA. John’s background is in modeling the growth and management of forest resources at large scales for national assessments of the U.S. forest sector. He holds BS and MS degrees in forest management and resource economics from Oregon State University. His current research looks at the relationship between human population demographics and the services provided by the urban forest. In 2010 and 2011, he led his program’s effort to install 1,000 FIA ground plots to sample attributes of the urban landscape in 5 Pacific States. Data collected from the plots has been compiled for iTree, made available to the public, and archived with an eye toward long-term monitoring. John was inspired to join the UTGL working group while attending the 2012 ISA conference in Portland. He joined the team developing urban tree monitoring protocols and co-led the effort to develop the Tree Data Set section. John is a member of AAAS and ISA.
