Berry-led research on blight-resistant chestnut trees being developed in north Georgia

Published May 31, 2018

Marty Cipollini, TACF’s GA-Chapter science coordinator and professor of biology at Berry College in Rome, GA is working diligently with the help of others to revive the American chestnut through painstaking development of potentially blight-resistant trees.

The late Ralph Henry, who lived on a mountain between Rome and Summerville, used to love to roast chestnuts and those that weren’t eaten were frequently used as hand warmers inside clothing during the cold winter months. When he found out about the research going on at Berry years ago, he contracted with the college and TACF’s GA Chapter to allow a research orchard to be developed on his property. That orchard is now one of the largest and most significant research sites not only in Georgia, but all of the Southeastern United States. Read the full article at the Rome News-Tribune.

Sara Fitzsimmons in 2005 with Jim Gage, Dr Phil Arnold, Dr Robert Gregg

2005
Sara Fern Fitzsimmons with Jim Gage, Dr Phil Arnold, & Dr Robert Gregg

2006, Sara Fitzsimmons pollinates at Stockers

2006
Sara pollinating at Stockers, PA

Sara rating cankers at Thorpewood

Sara rating cankers at Thorpewood, MD

Sara at the 25th Annual TACF meeting

2008
Sara at the 25th Annual TACF Meeting

Sara and the Graves tree

2009
Sara in the PSU Graves Orchard

Sara Fern Fitzsimmons in the Glenn Swank stump, 2009

2009
Sara in the Glenn Swank stump, PA

Sara at the International Chestnut Symposium, 2012

2012
Sara at the International Chestnut Symposium

Sara in Vermont

2014
Sara with Harmony Dalgleish and the Berlin American chestnut in Vermont

Kendra and Sara in the field

Sara and Kendra Collins working in the field

Sara presenting at the 2022 TACF Spring Meeting

2022
Sara presenting at TACF’s Spring Meeting

Sara (in the rocker) with TACF staff at the Fall Meeting

2023
Sara (in the rocker) with TACF staff at the Fall Meeting

Sara Fern Fitzsimmons

2024
Sara in the Penn State greenhouses