SPEA doctoral student Sarah Mincey recently received the prestigious Garden Club of America Fellowship in Urban Forestry, which will support her research with an award of $4,000.

Mincey received the award for her proposal on studying Bloomington’s urban tree canopy – specifically, how institutional forces in urban areas influence outcomes at the individual property level. By examining how these institutional forces incentivize or sanction actors to take specific action, Mincey hopes to identify which institutional arrangements affect the urban tree canopy, as well as address how the canopy varies between and within municipal sub-regions.

The Garden Club of America Fellowship, co-funded by Casey Trees in Washington, D.C., aims to advance knowledge of urban forests and increase the number of scientists in the field of urban forestry. Winners were selected by a committee of practicing urban forestry scientists at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

SPEA professor Burney Fischer, who leads an emerging teaching and research program in urban forestry, said, "In SPEA, we teach environmental science and public policy, but the idea of a student being awarded a research fellowship for urban forestry never occurred to me until Sarah came along. Research into urban forestry and environmental policy really just came together with Sarah. The award certainly enhances our urban forest management program." Fischer teaches urban forest management at SPEA and he will offer a new urban ecology class beginning in Fall 2010.