Achievement

IGERT Trainees Gina Quiram, David Smith, Adam Kokotovitch, Leah Sharpe and Karrie Koch presented the results of their oak wilt research at the Minnesota Invasive Species Conference (MNISC) in Duluth, Minnesota. Their presentations comprised an entire topic session. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) learned of the session and asked the students to present their findings at a one-day oak wilt conference at Carlos Avery in Forest Lake, Minnesota. The audience comprised MNDNR and USFS staff, city foresters from a number of municipalities in the Twin Cities and private foresters. Trainees David Smith, Adam Kokotovitch, Leah Sharpe and Karrie Koch presented their results and then participants participated in a facilitated discussion to set management and research goals and how each stakeholder group could collaborate to achieve those goals. The MN DNR and city foresters are using these results to guide their management.