The 2019 Forestry Urban Forestry Institute’s Growing Benefits and Trimming Risks in Our Municipal Forests annual event will take place on March 3-5 at NSU.
Speakers from all over the U.S., as well as professionals within Florida, will come together to teach attendees about the benefits of trees in urban settings, tree inventories, improving planting spaces, green infrastructure projects and much more.
“This is our Florida Urban Forestry Council (FUFC) annual conference. We run it as an institute, so we bring in experts and educators from pretty much across the country, sometimes internationally, to present on topics that are current and are issues for people who maintain or manage the urban forests throughout Florida,” explained John Harris, president for the Florida Urban Forestry Council, and owner of Earth Advisors.
Students who attend the conference will be able to gain valuable knowledge about the industry, as well as have the opportunity to meet and form connections with professionals in the field. There will also be a “Social with Exhibitors” on Monday, March 4 from 5:15-6:30 p.m., which will serve as an opportunity to network.
“Especially for students, [they will] get to meet and talk to some of these nationally known experts in urban forestry. Also, the exhibit area has different companies, my company is one of them, that are exhibiting so that they get to talk to representatives from different environmental consulting [agencies],” said Harris.
Mark Williams, city urban forester for the City of Fort Lauderdale and member of the executive committee for the Florida Urban Forestry Council, explained that students in environmentally-related studies can benefit from this event.
“Any student that happens to have an interest in either environmental science, ecological restoration, forestry, landscaping, or horticulture or growing plants in general [should come to this event].”
The benefits of forestry in urban settings is being explored more and more, and the benefits are continuously being discovered as further studies are conducted.
“Trees in the urban environment are being found more and more to be necessary for the health of people who live in urban areas. There is been a lot of research in the last ten years towards the effects of urban tree canopy, consistency of canopies, the overall urban landscape [in regards to] to reducing stress,” said Harris.
Additionally, Williams explained that the field will “most definitely” be relevant to our futures. “You hear some of the buzzwords like sea level rise and climate change and issues with coastal communities and flooding— urban forestry is very much so a part of that discussion.”
“Views out the windows of hospitals of well-landscaped properties or parks can actually reduce fifty percent or more the length of hospital stays for people that are recovering from surgery or sickness,” he added, based off of research studies. Traffic issues and even crime may be related to the urban landscape as well.
For more information about the conference or the Florida Urban Forestry Council, visit fufc.org/urban_forestry_institute.php. To register for the conference go to fufc.org/ufi_registration.php.
STUDENT PRICING
Monday-Tuesday full registration for FUFC members = $135.00
Monday-Tuesday full registration for non-members = $153.75 (and includes a professional membership)
One-day registration — either Monday or Tuesday — for FUFC members = $71.25
One-day registration — either Monday or Tuesday — for non-members = $90.00
Sunday Workshop = $25.00 (for members or non-members)
Pre-Conference Field Workshop
Sunday, March 3: 1 – 4 p.m.
Conference
Monday, March 4: 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 5: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
