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GA-TACF Annual Membership Meeting 2021

Please join our Annual Georgia Chapter Member Meeting on May 22, 2021, 10 am – 12 noon (via Zoom; details and URL at the bottom of this page)

Our special invited speaker will be Dr. Donald Davis, founding GA-TACF chapter president and author of the upcoming book “The American Chestnut”.  The agenda is copied below, and everyone (members and non-members alike) is invited to attend!  We’d love to “see” you all there!

Welcome and overview of 2020 and plans for 2021 (Kathy Patrick, President)

  1. Membership
  2. Outreach
  3. Transitions in leadership and member involvement         

Business

  1. Review and approval of May 2020 annual meeting minutes
  2. Treasurer’s report
  3. Volunteers needed
    1. Social media
    2. Email
    3. Community outreach
    4. Wild tree cataloging/mapping
    5. Test/demo orchard coordinator
  4. Board member changes
    1. Thanks to Dale Higdon, John French, and Steve Barber, who have completed their terms
    2. Nominations and vote for new board members
      1. Vincent Payne (who is willing to serve as treasurer)
      2. Caitlin Conn (transitioning to the GA-TACF science coordinator position)
      3. David Keehn (founding board member)

Guest speaker –Dr. Don Davis

We are thrilled to include Dr. Don Davis as our guest speaker.  A founding member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation who served as chapter president from 2006 to 2008, Don is an independent scholar, author, and former Fulbright fellow.  His book, “The American Chestnut”, to be released in September, tells the story of the American chestnut from Native American prehistory through the Civil War and the Great Depression. Don documents the tree’s impact on nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American life, including the decorative and culinary arts. The book discusses the importation of chestnut blight and the tree’s decline as a dominant species, and evaluates efforts to restore the American chestnut to its former place in the eastern deciduous forest, including modern attempts to genetically modify the species.  

Don’s talk will cover:

  1. the evolutionary history of the species
  2. the impact of chestnuts on Native American culture
  3. Henry David Thoreau’s relationship with the tree
  4. uses in furniture-making, building construction, tanning, and city-scaping
  5. the true origins of the chestnut blight fungus 
  6. the U.S. chestnut revival and restoration efforts 
  7. genetic resistance and the use of biotechnology to save the species

Don is currently employed by the Harvard Forest as a part-time research scholar and lives in Washington, D.C.

Introduction of Jamie van Clief, TACF Southern Regional Science Coordinator

Jamie is a former TACF intern and joins the organization as a full-time employee in June, 2021

Thank you Tom Saelli for serving as interim RSC to the Georgia Chapter!

Chapter Science Brief

  1. Martin Cipollini — overview of state-wide breeding program and near-term plans
  2. John French – Flint North Ridge Phytophthora screening orchard and allied projects
  3. Scott Merkle – somatic embryogenesis (cloning) and transgenic work at UGA

GA-TACF Volunteer of the Year Award

Zoom Link: https://berry.zoom.us/j/91221003068 Meeting ID: 912 2100 3068

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Meeting ID: 912 2100 3068

 

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The Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation
3 weeks ago
The Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation

On Friday March 6 faculty and staff at the University of North Georgia (UNG) added about 70 chestnuts by direct seeding to the Hurricane Creek orchard near Dahlonega. Karrie Ann Fadroski, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for UNG’s Environmental Leadership Center (ELC) and Stacie James, Program Coordinator for the ELC, were assisted by Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator for GA-TACF as well as several UNG student volunteers. Student participants included Chestnut student intern Lillian McGinnis, Hurricane Creek student intern Jason Richardson, Conservation student intern Reece Maxwell, Kylee Melton, Ava Minor, Mary Alice Olewicz, and Jack Nicholas.

This orchard is designed to screen hybrid chestnuts for Phytophthora Root Rot (PRR) resistance (pure American chestnuts are entirely susceptible to PRR). Seeds selected for this orchard come from trees known or suspected to carry PRR resistance, in this case from two trees at the Berry College backcross orchard. Read elsewhere on our Facebook page about how to protect chestnuts from this lethal disease if you have planted susceptible trees.

To learn more about this work and what you can do to become involved, please come to our annual meeting on May 2 at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford. Details are forthcoming, but the meeting will be held in the morning with lunch and a tour at Cloudland Vineyards in the early afternoon.
The American Chestnut Foundation University of North Georgia Berry College ... See MoreSee Less

On Friday March 6 faculty and staff at the University of North Georgia (UNG) added about 70 chestnuts by direct seeding to the Hurricane Creek orchard near Dahlonega. Karrie Ann Fadroski, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for UNG’s Environmental Leadership Center (ELC) and Stacie James, Program Coordinator for the ELC, were assisted by Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator for GA-TACF as well as several UNG student volunteers. Student participants included Chestnut student intern Lillian McGinnis, Hurricane Creek student intern Jason Richardson, Conservation student intern Reece Maxwell, Kylee Melton, Ava Minor, Mary Alice Olewicz, and Jack Nicholas.This orchard is designed to screen hybrid chestnuts for Phytophthora Root Rot (PRR) resistance (pure American chestnuts are entirely susceptible to PRR). Seeds selected for this orchard come from trees known or suspected to carry PRR resistance, in this case from two trees at the Berry College backcross orchard. Read elsewhere on our Facebook page about how to protect chestnuts from this lethal disease if you have planted susceptible trees.To learn more about this work and what you can do to become involved, please come to our annual meeting on May 2 at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford. Details are forthcoming, but the meeting will be held in the morning with lunch and a tour at Cloudland Vineyards in the early afternoon.The American Chestnut Foundation University of North Georgia Berry CollegeImage attachmentImage attachment+7Image attachment
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Hard to believe these students are in their late 30s now...

Coincidentally, exactly 17 years ago on March 6, 2009, Berry College students planted the parents of the seeds planted at UNG. Here are just a couple pictures from that day.

The Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation
4 weeks ago
The Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation

Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator of The Georgia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation, presented an overview of the organization's Recurrent Genomic Selection (RGS) chestnut breeding program during the Tennessee chapter's annual meeting at Tennessee Tech, subsequently chairing the Southern Regional Science meeting held in conjunction with the TN-TACF meeting. At the latter meeting, chapter leaders discussed how to cooperate to implement RGS regionally and initiated plans for the coming breeding season. They also welcomed newly hired TACF Regional Science Coordinator Zach Anderson who has been working with Dr. Hill Craddock at the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga. Zach's office will be located in Chattanooga. The American Chestnut Foundation ... See MoreSee Less

Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator of The Georgia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation, presented an overview of the organizations Recurrent Genomic Selection (RGS) chestnut breeding program during the Tennessee chapters annual meeting at Tennessee Tech, subsequently chairing the Southern Regional Science meeting held in conjunction with the TN-TACF meeting. At the latter meeting, chapter leaders discussed how to cooperate to implement RGS regionally and initiated plans for the coming breeding season. They also welcomed newly hired TACF Regional Science Coordinator Zach Anderson who has been working with Dr. Hill Craddock at the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga. Zachs office will be located in Chattanooga. The American Chestnut Foundation
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