Connecticut news

CT Chapter Annual Meeting (Nov 11th)

Once again another great Annual Meeting planned for Saturday November 11th. We hope you?ll attend and bring a friend. If you do plan on attending, please RSVP with an e-mail to gro.fcattc@pvsr!

The Program Schedule

9:30am Opening Reception

10:00am Into – Dr. Phil Arnold

10:15am Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis

11:15am Dr. Charles Maynard

12:00pm Lunch

1:00pm Leila Pinchot

1:30pm Dr.Chad Oliver

2:00pm Dr. Ann Camp

2:30pm Coffee Break

3:00pm Gayle Kida

3:30pm CT-TACF Business

4:00pm Chestnut ID Lab

Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis

Sandra was born in Coffeyville, Kansas and attended college at the University of California at Riverside, where she received a Bachelor?s degree in the spring of 1961. In graduate study at the University of Texas at Austin, she worked with C. J. Alexopoulos in mycology. After receiving a Master?s degree in Botany she joined the staff of CAES in the Department of Genetics (1966). She completed her Doctor of Agronomy degree at Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, West Germany in 1985, working with Professor J. Kranz.
Sandra has worked on the genetics of various fungi, including those that cause corn smut disease and Dutch elm disease. She has been working on chestnut blight disease (caused by Cryphonectria parasitica) since 1968. Current work includes studies of the ecology of the blight fungus and its control by hypovirulence, and studies of virulence in the fungus and resistance in the trees.

Topic: History of Chestnut Restoration in Connecticut

Dr. Chadwick Oliver

Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Director, Yale Global Institue of Sustainable Forestry. Chad, is a renowned expert in the fields of forest stand dynamics and landscape management, and sustainable forestry. He is an internationally known silviculturalist, noted for his understanding of both the dynamics of forest processes and the interactions of human societies and forests.

Topic: Climate Change and Chestnut

Dr. Charles (Chuck) Maynard

Professor and Director of the American Chestnut research and Restoration Center, SUNY-ESF. Chuck Maynard received his BS in Forest Management, M.S in Forest Biology, and PhD in Forest Biology with an emphasis on Forest Genetics and Tree Improvement, all from Iowa State University. Chuck has been with the College of Environmental Science and Forestry since 1980. He has been working with Dr. William Powell since 1987 on the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project. ?Bill designs the genes and I put them in.?
Topic: Chuck will be talking about designing genes for sustainable blight resistance, transferring those genes into chestnut cells and regenerating whole plants, moving from the laboratory to greenhouse and field trials, status of the first two transgenic chestnut trees to be planted in the field, and how backcross breeding project and the genetic engineering project can compliment each other.

Dr. Ann Camp

Dr. Camp is interested in the dynamics of mixed species stands and the variables driving vegetation patterns at different hierarchical scales. Results of her research on sustainable patterns of late-successional and old forest habitats in fire-regulated landscapes have been widely incorporated in dry forest management and restoration efforts in the inland Northwest. Her research includes effects of biotic and abiotic disturbances on vegetation patterns at stand and landscape scales; interactions among disturbance agents and vegetation patterns, especially the roles of insects and pathogens in creating forest structures important to wildlife; and management alternatives for dense, marginally economic stands of small-diameter trees and consequences of different management practices on ancillary forest resources.

Topic: Reintroducing Chestnut to the Forest

Driving Directions

The meeting is at Sage Hall, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven. From I-91 North or South Take exit #3/Trumbull Street onto Trumbull Street – go 0.9 mi. Turn Right on Prospect Street – go 0.2 mi Arrive at 205 Prospect Street, New Haven, on the Right.

Parking

There is on-street parking near Sage Hall, and the Yale Parking Lots are available for Parking on weekends without charge. The Yale Skating Rink (the Yale Whale) is located on Prospect Street, directly opposite Sage Hall, with significant parking.

Annual Meeting Poster

Meeting Press Release

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Selecting the best and roguing the rest 🌱🌳These trees were planted 8 years ago, and by carefully choosing which trees to keep and which to remove, we’re creating space for stronger growth and healthier stands. Selected trees will be genotyped for our Recurrent Genomic Selection (RGS) program and could play a key role in future breeding efforts.
#AmericanChestnut #RestorationInProgress #ChestnutResearch #ForestRestoration #MeadowviewResearchFarms #Castanetum #ScienceInTheField
... See MoreSee Less

Selecting the best and roguing the rest 🌱🌳These trees were planted 8 years ago, and by carefully choosing which trees to keep and which to remove, we’re creating space for stronger growth and healthier stands. Selected trees will be genotyped for our Recurrent Genomic Selection (RGS) program and could play a key role in future breeding efforts. #AmericanChestnut #RestorationInProgress #ChestnutResearch #ForestRestoration #MeadowviewResearchFarms #Castanetum #ScienceInTheField

3 CommentsComment on Facebook

Of the 25 first gen Chinese chestnut tress I planted, two survive to produce here in western Pennsylvania. That was ~35-years ago.

I love American Chestnut trees. I am hoping I will more trees over the years. We need them.

Pershendetje po qe se shikoni te arsyshme mund te bashkpunoim ne fushën e pyltaris. Kam gjitha mundesit dhe kam fjith dokometacionin e nevojshem

🌰 "The evolving story of New Jersey’s chestnuts" by Alison Mitchell
Check out this article that features insights from our North Central Regional Science Coordinator, Lake Graboski, and also highlights New Jersey Nut Farms’ separate hybridization efforts—showing the range of work underway to bring back the American chestnut.

Click the following link to view the full story: www.newsbreak.com/south-jersey-media-302714994/4444458578919-the-evolving-story-of-new-jersey-s-c...

#americanchestnuts #nature #chestnuts #restoration #conservation #quote #article #explorepage
... See MoreSee Less

🌰 The evolving story of New Jersey’s chestnuts by Alison MitchellCheck out this article that features insights from our North Central Regional Science Coordinator, Lake Graboski, and also highlights New Jersey Nut Farms’ separate hybridization efforts—showing the range of work underway to bring back the American chestnut. Click the following link to view the full story: https://www.newsbreak.com/south-jersey-media-302714994/4444458578919-the-evolving-story-of-new-jersey-s-chestnuts #americanchestnuts #nature #chestnuts #restoration #conservation #quote #article #explorepage

15 CommentsComment on Facebook

I have one of the original American chestnuts growing on my land.. it grows to about 12 feet tall and it dies. it comes back from the root and does the cycle again. it's done this for the last 63 years.

I've got a half dozen proven American chestnut trees in the country park across the street. 60 + feet and bear nuts every year by the ton. the nuts seem to be sterile. no saplings ever. .

How far our we from a chestnut that grows past 20 years

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Learn more about this remarkable standing American chestnut in the article “We The People: How Iowa Is Part of the Effort to Save the Rare American Chestnut Tree.” Courtesy of Grace Vance and KCRG.

Visit: www.ktiv.com/2026/01/12/we-people-how-iowa-is-part-effort-save-rare-american-chestnut-tree/

#americanchestnut #chestnuts #restoration #conservation #explorepage
... See MoreSee Less

70 CommentsComment on Facebook

Georgia has a stand of chestnut trees in a secret location. Can they borrow some pollen from this tree to add to their breeding collection? They need a varied gene pool for the future.

A guy named Bill Deeter has just recently observed that trees that have crown gall seem to be warding off the blight. Im really hoping that this will bring back the longevity of the American Chestnut

My Neighbors have a vet old chestnut tree - they have contacted several conservation groups about getting a sapling of a second . So it would produce chestnuts once again-

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A month ago, our President and CEO, Michael Goergen, got to visit the New York Botanical Garden and see the original documentation of chestnut blight taken from a tree in the Bronx Zoo. Feeling a sense of inspiration from the experience, Michael wrote, "Holding that bark brings both grief and resolve. Grief for what was lost. Resolve for the work ahead.

Because for the first time since 1905, we are no longer documenting decline.
We are documenting return.

The American chestnut is not a memory. It is a restoration mission and The American Chestnut Foundation is building the tools and partnerships to finish what Merkel, Murrill, and others could not.

Seeing the original blight records didn’t make the work feel more challenging. It made it feel inevitable.

Restoration is the next chapter. We get to write it."

#explorepage #americanchestnut #history #chestnuts #learn #nature #forestry #trees #blight #restoration #conservation
... See MoreSee Less

A month ago, our President and CEO, Michael Goergen, got to visit the New York Botanical Garden and see the original documentation of chestnut blight taken from a tree in the Bronx Zoo. Feeling a sense of inspiration from the experience, Michael wrote, Holding that bark brings both grief and resolve. Grief for what was lost. Resolve for the work ahead.Because for the first time since 1905, we are no longer documenting decline.We are documenting return.The American chestnut is not a memory. It is a restoration mission and The American Chestnut Foundation is building the tools and partnerships to finish what Merkel, Murrill, and others could not.Seeing the original blight records didn’t make the work feel more challenging. It made it feel inevitable.Restoration is the next chapter. We get to write it.#explorepage #americanchestnut #history #chestnuts #learn #nature #forestry #trees #blight #restoration #conservationImage attachmentImage attachment+1Image attachment

2 CommentsComment on Facebook

Whoo hoo! Sorry, you were not the first to know this. The Chestnut Lady.

Our New England Regional Science Coordinator, Deni Ranguelova, made an appearance on the podcast "Across the Fence" to discuss the American chestnut tree and why we are working to restore them.

Check out the podcast on Youtube at youtu.be/c9EeOc5WIaE?si=80CQtoY4-qeQhjtI

#americanchestnut #chestnuts #podcast #history #restoration #conservation #nature #forestry #explorepage
... See MoreSee Less

3 CommentsComment on Facebook

So like Covid?

This was all because someone in upstate Delaware thought it would be a good idea to grow a Chinese chestnut in their yard so they could show it off to their friends.

😂

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