2024 Annual Fall Meeting

The Annual Fall Meeting of The American Chestnut Foundation is open only to TACF Board, Committee Members, Staff, and their guests.

---

Wednesday
October 23

---

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Check-in Open (Promenade)

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Tour a Deer Exclusion Slash Wall

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Reception (Promenade)

 

---

Thursday
October 24

---

 

8:00 am  – 9:00 am Restoration Committee Meeting (Waterford)

9:15 am – 10:15 am Finance Committee Meeting (Waterford)

10:30 am – 12:00 pm Science and Technology Committee Meeting (Waterford)

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Lunch (Promenade)

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Promotion and Outreach Committee Meeting (Waterford)

3:15 pm – 6:00 pm Field Trip to Lockwood Farm & Sleeping Giant (optional)

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Dinner (Promenade)

 

---

Friday
October 25

---

 

8:30 am- 9:30 am Chapters Committee Meeting (Waterford)

9:45 am – 10:45 am Executive Committee Meeting (Waterford)

11:00 am – 12:00 pm Governance Committee Meeting (Waterford)

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Lunch (Promenade)

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Board of Directors Meeting – open access (Waterford)

4:00 pm – 8:30 pm 2024 American Chestnut Symposium. Schedule available on the Symposium tab

 

---

Saturday
October 26

---

 

8:30 am – 8:30 pm 2024 American Chestnut Symposium. Schedule available on the Symposium tab

Symposium Schedule

 

---

Friday
October 25

---

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Board of Directors Meeting – open to all TACF members (Waterford)

3:30 pm -4:45 pm Case Mountain Cabin Tour (see Tours tab for info)

4:00 pm – 6:30 pm Check-in open & tour sign-up (Promenade)

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Happy Hour (Promenade)

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Welcome Dinner and Keynote Speaker, Sir Peter Crane (Nutmeg Ballroom)

 

---

Saturday
October 26

---

 

8:00 am- 8:30 am Check-in open (Promenade)

8:30 am- 9:30 am Welcome Speaker: Susanna Keriö (Waterford)

9:45 am – 10:45 am Speaker: Tracy Zarrillo (Waterford)

9:45 am – 11:30 am Tours at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (see Tours tab for more info)

11:00 am – 12 pm Speaker: Nickole Brown (Waterford)

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Awards Luncheon with Volunteer Service Awards and Partner Awards (Nutmeg Ballroom)

1:45 pm – 2:45 pm Educator’s Round Table – Open Session.
Using the American chestnut story to fulfill education requirements (Waterford)

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Speaker: Stephen Tulowiecki (Waterford)

3:30 pm – 5:45 pm Tours at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (see Tours tab for more info)

4:15 pm – 5:00 pm Student Flash Talks (Waterford)

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Happy Hour and Poster Session (Promenade)

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Chestnut Celebration Dinner, Student Awards, Keynote Speaker: Mark Ashton (Nutmeg Ballroom)

8:30 pm – 10:30 pm Social Hour with cash bar (Nutmeg Ballroom)

Tour Information

---

Thursday
October 24

---

 

Lockwood Farm and Sleeping Giant

When: 3:45 pm – 5:30 pm

What: Visit the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s Lockwood Farm and Sleeping Giant State Park. Hug a large, surviving American chestnut tree, marvel at the array of hybrids and chestnut species from around the world, and visit famous founder trees used in TACF’s original backcross program: “Clapper” at Lockwood Farm, and “Graves” at Sleeping Giant.

Who: Open to TACF staff, board, and committee members and their guests.

Group size: maximum 40 participants

Tour Guide: Susanna Keriö

Transportation: shuttle from Courtyard Hartford Cromwell departing 3:15, or self-drive to Lockwood Farm at 890 Evergreen Ave, Hamden, CT 06518

How To Participate: No sign-up required. Meet in venue lobby for 3:15 pm departure on shuttle, or self-drive to Lockwood Farm and arrive before 3:45 pm

Preparation: Tours are outdoors. Wear weather appropriate attire and walking shoes

 

---

Friday
October 25

---

Case Mountain Historic Cabin

When: 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

What: Half mile walk to visit an historic cabin built from American chestnut logs. Visit SaveTheCabin.org for more information.

Who: Open to all Symposium and TACF Fall Meeting attendees and their guests

Group size: no limit

Transportation: self-drive to Case Mountain, 640 Spring St, Manchester, CT 06040

How To Participate: No sign-up required. Meet at either of the two Case Mountain trailheads at 3:15 pm (How to Get to the Cabin)

Preparation: Tours are outdoors. Wear weather appropriate attire and walking shoes

 

---

Saturday
October 26

---

Morning Tour at Lockwood Farm CAES

When: 10:15 am -11:30 am

What: Visit the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s Lockwood Farm. Hug a large, surviving American chestnut tree, marvel at the array of hybrids and chestnut species from around the world, and visit famous founder trees used in TACF’s original backcross program.

Who: Open to all Symposium attendees

Group size: maximum 40 participants

Tour Guide: Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis

Transportation: shuttle from Courtyard Hartford Cromwell departing 9:45 am, or self-drive to Lockwood Farm at 890 Evergreen Ave, Hamden, CT 06518

How to Participate: Sign-up form at Symposium check-in table (maximum 40 participants)

Preparation: Tours are outdoors. Wear weather appropriate attire and walking shoes

 

Afternoon Tour at Lockwood Farm CAES

When: 3:45 pm – 5:00 pm

What: Visit the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s Lockwood Farm. Hug a large, surviving American chestnut tree, marvel at the array of hybrids and chestnut species from around the world, and visit famous founder trees used in TACF’s original backcross program.

Who: Open to all Symposium attendees

Group size: maximum 40 participants

Tour Guide: Jack Swatt

Transportation: shuttle from Courtyard Hartford Cromwell departing 3:15 pm, or self-drive to Lockwood Farm at 890 Evergreen Ave, Hamden, CT 06518

How to Participate: Sign-up form at Symposium check-in table (maximum 40 participants)

Preparation: Tours are outdoors. Wear weather appropriate attire and walking shoes

Things To Do in the Cromwell Area

---

Family Friendly

---

Dinosaur State Park

What: A 200-million-year-old fossil trackway, nature trails, arboretum, and interactive exhibits bring the Mesozoic era to life. (website)
Where: 400 West St, Rocky Hill, CT 06067 (map)
Distance: 5.1 miles from venue

 

Lyman Orchards Corn Maze

What: Connecticut’s premier orchard with family-friendly events, pick-your-own fruit, farm market, award-winning pies, sunflower and corn mazes, and a year-round golf course. (website)
Where: 32 Reeds Gap Rd, Middlefield, CT 06455 (map)
Distance: 9.0 miles from venue

 

Gillette Castle

What: It looks like a medieval fortress, but a step inside the stone castle reveals the built-in couches, table trackway, and woodcarvings that all point to the creative genius that was William Gillette. Also has hiking trails if tours are sold out. (website)
Where: 67 River Rd, East Haddam, CT 06423 (map)
Distance: 26.0 miles from venue

---

Outdoor/Hiking

---

Sleeping Giant State Park

What: State Park with large surviving American chestnut trees. (website)
Where: 200 Mt Carmel Ave, Hamden, CT 06518 (map)
Distance: 17.9 miles from venue

 

Hubbard Park & Castle Craig

What: 1,800-acre park featuring a scenic lake, historical tower, event bandshell, skating rink, tennis court & playground (website)
Where: 999 W Main St, Meriden, CT 06451 (map)
Distance: 11.9 miles from venue

 

Mount Higby

What: This hike leads to spectacular views that extend from Mount Tom in MA to Long Island Sound. (website)
Where: Meriden Rd, Middlefield, CT 06455 (map)
Distance: 7.2 miles from venue

Wadsworth Falls State Park

What: Enjoy hiking or biking 4.5 miles of varied trails or explore the park’s namesake falls. (website)
Where: 25 Cherry Hill Rd, Rockfall, CT 06481 (map)
Distance: 6.5 miles from venue

---

Farther Afield

---

For non-nature attractions, a little further away, the Mohegan Sun Casino and Foxwoods Casino are big draws. The Pequot Museum at Foxwoods is a great native American museum. In New Haven is the Yale campus and the Yale Peabody Museum (free). Maybe Florian can organize tours of the quantum computer lab (LOL). Mystic has a lot of attractions with the Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic Aquarium and walking around downtown Mystic. The Mark Twain Museum may be of interest, a fairly small museum at his old residence in Hartford. The Nautilus Museum in Groton features a retired submarine.

Visitors might enjoy seeing the seashore! Here are a parks within range.

• Hammonasset Beach State Park
• Rocky Neck State Park
• Harkness Memorial State Park
• Bluff Point State Park

Flash Talks & Poster Session

Saturday, Oct 26

Flash Talks
4:15 – 5:00 pm
Waterford

1. Conserving American Chesnut Genotypes for Future Breeding, Burdine et al. (abstract)
2. Cost-effective Pollination Method for American Chestnut Reproduction, Hays et al. (abstract)
3. Investigating Genetic Diversity of American Chestnut in the Inland and Pacific Northwest, Sakyi et al. (abstract)
4. Optimizing Controlled Pollination in Backcross Chestnut Breeding, Varsalona (abstract)

Poster Session
5:30 – 6:30 pm
Promenade

1. Cost-effective Pollination Method for American Chestnut Reproduction, Hays et al. (abstract)
2. Results from 2023 and 2024 of Two Forest Progeny Tests of B3-F3s Planted in 2012, Hebard et al. (abstract)
3. American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), Phytophthora, and Fungicides: Planting and Monitoring Seedlings at a Warren Wilson College Orchard, Keller et al. (abstract)
4. Investigating Genetic Diversity of American Chestnut in the inland and Pacific Northwest, Sakyi et al. (abstract)
5. Chestnut Common Garden Experiment at University of Rhode Island, Trowbridge & Buczynski (abstract)
6. Optimizing Controlled Pollination in Backcross Chestnut Breeding, Varsalona (abstract)

---

Flash Talks

---

Conserving American Chesnut Genotypes for Future Breeding

Burdine, C. S.¹; Parker, C. K.²; Nance, W. L.³; Galeano, E. G.⁴; Granger, J. J.⁴; and Nelson, C. D.⁵

1. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Southern Institute of Forest Genetics, Saucier, MS, USA 39574 (vog.ADSU@enidrub.s.kcuhc)
2. Natural Resource Conservation Service, Gulfport, MS, USA 39503
3. Retired Scientist, Southern Institute of Forest Genetics, Saucier, MS, USA 39574
4. Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA 39762
5. Research Geneticist and Project Leader, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Health Research and Education Center, Lexington, KY, USA 40505

Abstract

Considered to be the greatest ecological disaster of the 20^th century, the loss of the American Chestnut, primarily through the introduction of Cryphonectria parasitica, modified the forest ecosystem, severely impacting local and regional economies, and disrupting many people’s lives. With numerous breeding and some genetic engineering efforts being made; it is anticipated that blight resistant genotypes will become more available in the next few years. However, before reintroduction to the forest, it is necessary to produce seedlings that are both resistant to the pathogen and locally adapted.  Fortunately, coppice regenerating stumps in the wild provide a source of local genotypes that can be preserved for future breeding efforts through establishment of germplasm conservation orchards. Therefore, the development of a modified nut grafting technique by the Southern Institute of Forest Genetics (SIFG) has provided an opportunity to efficiently propagate and conserve these genotypes. Over the last three years, around 30 American chestnut sprouting stumps of Mississippi and northwest Alabama origin have been propagated. Because these genotypes evolved in the most southwestern area of American chestnut’s native range, they may be the most critical for applying assisted migration during reintroduction. During the 2022 and 2023 grafting seasons, several cooperators provided scions and seeds for rootstock allowing for an increase in the numbers of nut grafts made at the SIFG. In turn this will provide us with a more accurate gauge of the success rates attainable at higher production levels. Details on the modified nut-grafting technique, the number of genotypes grafted, the number of grafts made and their survival to date, as well as factors that may be limiting success will all be discussed.

---

Cost-effective Pollination Method for American Chestnut Reproduction

Hays, J., Tran, A., Jeffrey, R., & Swatt, J.

CT Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, Connecticut SCSU Biology Department, 301 Fitch St, New Haven, Connecticut 

Abstract

Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica , is a parasitic fungus that contributes to the untimely death of chestnut trees, endangering the American chestnut species. Proper pollination is important to produce fertile nuts and increase the number of American chestnut trees. Chestnut trees pollinate by using the pollen from other chestnut trees within a 200-300 meter radius carried over by wind to their flowers. While self pollination can be possible, cross pollination is necessary since male and female flowers do not bloom at the same time on the same tree and cross pollinating yields higher quality nuts. In Connecticut, there are American chestnut trees that are isolated and unable to produce fertile nuts. Previous pollination methods include collecting catkins from other trees, applying pollen to a microscope slide, and manually inseminating the flowers. However, this method is lengthy and requires equipment, money, and proper knowledge to be able to pollinate correctly.

This study proposes a new method that takes advantage of how chestnut trees normally reproduce by hanging catkins from other trees in water around the isolated trees and allowing the wind to naturally pollinate the flowers. At least two branches containing catkins were put at each site and were changed weekly. Readiness to pollinate was determined by the bushiness in catkins and yellow colored emerging styles in flowers. This method is inexpensive and only requires basic knowledge about chestnut tree pollination, allowing the general public to participate and aid in reproduction efforts. Once burs are collected from these trees, the number of fertile nuts will be compared against the number of fertile nuts in trees using the traditional pollination method to see how successful this new method is. The results of this study could provide a more cost effective and accessible solution to increasing the American chestnut population. 

---

Investigating Genetic Diversity of American Chestnut in the Inland and Pacific Northwest

Sakyi, K, K; Riddle, C; Laport, R, G

The College of Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID

Abstract

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) occupies a special place in the cultural history of North America stretching back to pre-colonial periods. The rapid functional extinction of C. dentata due to the spread of chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) occurred rapidly within the lived memory for many residents of eastern North America, representing a significant biodiversity and cultural loss. While breeding and biotechnology efforts have been successful in generating partially blight-resistant trees, successful restoration of C. dentata to eastern forests will require the establishment of genetically diverse, self-sustaining blight-resistant populations of trees. Unfortunately, relatively few reproductive trees remain in the native range, and it is likely that some genetic diversity important for local adaptation was lost during the spread of C. parasitica over the last ~100 years. American chestnuts planted in western North America before the advent of chestnut blight, by people who migrated from the east, may represent an important source of novel genetic variation, and an opportunity to aid restoration efforts by reintroducing pre-blight genetic variants into mature remnant and blight-resistant trees in eastern North America. We aim to locate, gather specimens from, and genetically analyze American chestnuts throughout the inland and Pacific Northwest. Of the specimens we have analyzed so far, the majority appear to be genetically related to populations in the northern part of the historical range. With expanded sampling, we aim to better understand genetic diversity and geographic origins of western trees, potentially increasing the genetic diversity available for restoration efforts.

---

Optimizing Controlled Pollination in Backcross Chestnut Breeding

Varsalona, Vincent, P.

1. Reinhardt University, 7300 Reinhardt College Cir, Waleska, GA 30183
2. Virginia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, 900 Natural Resources Dr. Charlottesville, VA 22901

Abstract

The American Chestnut Foundation is working to breed a chestnut population resistant to the chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) and the soil-borne pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi, by crossing American chestnut (Castanea dentata) with the resistant Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) through controlled pollination. Current practice is to cover female flowers when styles emerge and pollinate those flowers 10-14 days later. Chestnuts exhibit a flowering phenology called duodichogamy where male catkins emerge, followed by female flowers (burs), and a second flush of staminate flowers occurs on the bisexual catkin. (Stout, 1928). Long thought to be characteristic of male fitness, Pauly et al. suggest that duodichogamy has evolved mostly for female fitness (2023). Furthermore, styles of female flowers in European chestnut (C. sativa) are each receptive at varying times for an interval of two days. (Valdiviesso, 1999) If styles in the female flowers of C. dentata are receptive at differing times and a second staminate inflorescence is beneficial to female fitness, then pollination could be performed over a longer period than two weeks and double pollination could yield more nuts at harvest. This study aims to optimize controlled pollination in chestnut by i) performing pollen treatments across a range of 5-24 days after bagging female flowers and ii) applying double pollination treatments at 10 and 15 days after bagging to test if individuals that receive two pollen treatments bear more nuts. The results of this study will be collected at harvest in the fall of 2024.

---

Posters

---

Cost-effective Pollination Method for American Chestnut Reproduction

Hays, J., Tran, A., Jeffrey, R., & Swatt, J.

CT Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, Connecticut SCSU Biology Department, 301 Fitch St, New Haven, Connecticut

Abstract

Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica , is a parasitic fungus that contributes to the untimely death of chestnut trees, endangering the American chestnut species. Proper pollination is important to produce fertile nuts and increase the number of American chestnut trees. Chestnut trees pollinate by using the pollen from other chestnut trees within a 200-300 meter radius carried over by wind to their flowers. While self pollination can be possible, cross pollination is necessary since male and female flowers do not bloom at the same time on the same tree and cross pollinating yields higher quality nuts. In Connecticut, there are American chestnut trees that are isolated and unable to produce fertile nuts. Previous pollination methods include collecting catkins from other trees, applying pollen to a microscope slide, and manually inseminating the flowers. However, this method is lengthy and requires equipment, money, and proper knowledge to be able to pollinate correctly.

This study proposes a new method that takes advantage of how chestnut trees normally reproduce by hanging catkins from other trees in water around the isolated trees and allowing the wind to naturally pollinate the flowers. At least two branches containing catkins were put at each site and were changed weekly. Readiness to pollinate was determined by the bushiness in catkins and yellow colored emerging styles in flowers. This method is inexpensive and only requires basic knowledge about chestnut tree pollination, allowing the general public to participate and aid in reproduction efforts. Once burs are collected from these trees, the number of fertile nuts will be compared against the number of fertile nuts in trees using the traditional pollination method to see how successful this new method is. The results of this study could provide a more cost effective and accessible solution to increasing the American chestnut population.

---

Results From 2023 and 2024 of Two Forest Progeny Tests of B3-F3s Planted in 2012

Hebard, F., Scrivani, J., Absher, C., Georgi, L., Podyma, L., Blankenship, D., & Crouch, D.
Virginia Chapter, TACF, P.O. Box 158, Marshall, VA 20116

Abstract

The objectives of these forest progeny tests were to compare the blight resistance and forest competitiveness of B3-F3 families to that of positive and negative controls, to determine whether the trees grew as well as American chestnut and better than Chinese, but resisted blight as well as Chinese chestnut and better than American.  The goal of the breeding was to enable the species, Castanea dentata, to resume evolving independently, by increasing its population size naturally, without human intervention. Neither of the controls above attain that goal.  The site resembled a clearcut, but its unusual history limited regeneration of hardwood sprouts largely to native C. dentata.  Some red maple and black locust seeded in, but competition was low, aggravated by well-drained soils.  Vigorous native chestnut regeneration may have limited deer predation on the planted chestnut.  Seedlings were lifted from the Penn Nursery in the fall (November) after spring planting of nuts.  Small seedlings, about 18 inches tall, were planted in late November and early December, using an alpha variant of a resolvable incomplete block design.  Survival was good, 89% after 5 years, with average heights of 10 feet after 5 years and 20 feet after 10 years.  Growth rates were patchy across the site, best captured by the incomplete blocks, in part because the site was planted on 15-foot centers.  Survival at 10 years was 59% on one site, 29% on the second.  Because of the low competition but good growth of chestnut, many trees were flowering by 2022.  This led to extensive bear predation of seeds.  We collected some seed in 2023 and hope to get more this year.  We have flown a drone to enumerate fruiting, as it is very difficult to detect burs from the ground.  American chestnut controls had the highest blight severity, significantly higher than that of the best families.  The B3-F3s did not have lower severity than B3-F2 controls.  Unfortunately, regulations had prevented the planting of the Chinese chestnut controls.  The mothers of several good families also had high scores for resistance in other tests.  These trees are still too young for the best to be considered as having adequate blight resistance for planting in the forest, but 35 of 297 progeny at the better site had long-term blight resistance phenotype scores greater than 80, the average score of the 297 being 42.  Whether resistance is adequate for some should be clearer in another 10 years.  They already appear competitive for American chestnut traits.

---

American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), Phytophthora, and Fungicides: Planting and Monitoring Seedlings at a Warren Wilson College Orchard

Keller, N, S¹; Jeffers, S²; Sisco, P; Van Clief, J³; McKeever, K⁴; Steinrueck, C¹, Griffin, E¹

1. Warren Wilson College, 701 Warren Wilson Rd., Swannanoa, NC
2. Clemson University, Dept. of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson, SC
3. American Chestnut Foundation, 50 N Merrimon Ave #115, Asheville, NC
4. U.S. Forest Service, 200 WT Weaver Blvd, Asheville, NC 28801

Abstract

The restoration of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), once a foundational species of eastern North America, has been of great interest to scientists and organizations since its functional extinction decades ago by two exotic plant diseases – chestnut blight and Phytophthora root rot. Warren Wilson College (WWC) has used American/Chinese chestnut hybrids as a mode of increasing resistance to blight, caused by Cryphonectria parasitica, and root rot, caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi. Since 2001, over 300 hybrid chestnut seedlings have been planted in WWC orchards, which have been monitored by scientists at the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) and Clemson University. In February 2024, 36 C. dentata seedlings were used to establish a fungicide trial in a WWC orchard known to be infested with P. cinnamomi. Seedlings were planted in a randomized complete block design to evaluate efficacy of two commercially available fungicides (Ridomil Gold SL and Reliant) that target oomycete pathogens like P. cinnamomi. Over the next 12-24 months, seedlings will be monitored regularly for overall plant health and mortality by inspecting seedlings for above ground symptoms of root rot. The overall goal of our research is to create and maintain a health monitoring program of C. dentata at WWC.

---

---

Investigating Genetic Diversity of American Chestnut in the Inland and Pacific Northwest

Sakyi, K, K; Riddle, C; Laport, R, G

The College of Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID

Abstract

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) occupies a special place in the cultural history of North America stretching back to pre-colonial periods. The rapid functional extinction of C. dentata due to the spread of chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) occurred rapidly within the lived memory for many residents of eastern North America, representing a significant biodiversity and cultural loss. While breeding and biotechnology efforts have been successful in generating partially blight-resistant trees, successful restoration of C. dentata to eastern forests will require the establishment of genetically diverse, self-sustaining blight-resistant populations of trees. Unfortunately, relatively few reproductive trees remain in the native range, and it is likely that some genetic diversity important for local adaptation was lost during the spread of C. parasitica over the last ~100 years. American chestnuts planted in western North America before the advent of chestnut blight, by people who migrated from the east, may represent an important source of novel genetic variation, and an opportunity to aid restoration efforts by reintroducing pre-blight genetic variants into mature remnant and blight-resistant trees in eastern North America. We aim to locate, gather specimens from, and genetically analyze American chestnuts throughout the inland and Pacific Northwest. Of the specimens we have analyzed so far, the majority appear to be genetically related to populations in the northern part of the historical range. With expanded sampling, we aim to better understand genetic diversity and geographic origins of western trees, potentially increasing the genetic diversity available for restoration efforts.

---

Chestnut Common Garden Experiment at University of Rhode Island

Trowbridge, R, E; Buczynski, M, L

The University of Rhode Island, 45 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI 02881

Abstract

After the accidental introduction of the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica from Asia to the United States in 1904, the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), a once dominant species in eastern forests, became functionally extinct in the wild. Conservation efforts to restore this iconic tree have concentrated on hybridization strategies with the blight-resistant Chinese chestnut, C. mollissima, to confer blight resistance into hybrids. Since the blight has devastated C. dentata populations for the past century, scientists have worked to better understand the genome of this native tree. Partnered with The American Chestnut Foundation, the University of Rhode Island (URI) planted a common garden in June of 2024 in Kingston, Rhode Island. The common garden is composed of 689 individuals of 33 different hybrid crosses, one C. dentata control, and one C. mollissima control. These hybrids have origins from states including Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. The URI common garden was organized on a grid system with lettered columns and numbered rows so that each individual may be identified with a unique space code. Each individual was given a randomized assignment and planted directly into the orchard from the seed phase. The chosen crosses for the orchard were identified as the “best by best” hybrid crosses from studies done by the American Chestnut
Foundation. Since June of 2024, germination, height, leaf observations, and health observations have been recorded in a database created by URI students. The URI chestnut common garden will continue to be utilized as a resource to better understand blight resistance and environmental resilience for chestnut hybrid crosses.

---

Optimizing Controlled Pollination in Backcross Chestnut Breeding

Varsalona, Vincent, P.

1. Reinhardt University, 7300 Reinhardt College Cir, Waleska, GA 30183
2. Virginia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, 900 Natural Resources Dr. Charlottesville, VA 22901

Abstract

The American Chestnut Foundation is working to breed a chestnut population resistant to the chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) and the soil-borne pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi, by crossing American chestnut (Castanea dentata) with the resistant Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) through controlled pollination. Current practice is to cover female flowers when styles emerge and pollinate those flowers 10-14 days later. Chestnuts exhibit a flowering phenology called duodichogamy where male catkins emerge, followed by female flowers (burs), and a second flush of staminate flowers occurs on the bisexual catkin. (Stout, 1928). Long thought to be characteristic of male fitness, Pauly et al. suggest that duodichogamy has evolved mostly for female fitness (2023). Furthermore, styles of female flowers in European chestnut (C. sativa) are each receptive at varying times for an interval of two days. (Valdiviesso, 1999) If styles in the female flowers of C. dentata are receptive at differing times and a second staminate inflorescence is beneficial to female fitness, then pollination could be performed over a longer period than two weeks and double pollination could yield more nuts at harvest. This study aims to optimize controlled pollination in chestnut by i) performing pollen treatments across a range of 5-24 days after bagging female flowers and ii) applying double pollination treatments at 10 and 15 days after bagging to test if individuals that receive two pollen treatments bear more nuts. The results of this study will be collected at harvest in the fall of 2024.

---

Speakers

Peter Crane • Susanna Keriö • Tracy Zarrillo • Nickole Brown • Stephen Tulowiecki • Mark Ashton

---

Friday, Oct 25
Welcome Dinner
6:30-8:30 pm

Keynote Speaker

Sir Peter Crane

President, Oak Spring Garden Foundation

The American chestnut and its allies in space and time

The American chestnut is part of a major lineage of trees that has an evolutionary history extending back at least 80 million years. Many of these trees, for example oak, beech, hickory, and walnut, as well as alder, birch, hazel and hornbeam, are significant components in the temperate forests of eastern North America and eastern Asia. All these lineages have a deep and complicated history, characterized by both extinction and diversification. But their more recent history in response to changing climates, and their cultural history through their associations with people, is equally complex. Understanding the evolutionary and cultural history of these trees is important as we seek to manage their future and the future of the plant communities of which they are part.

Biography

Peter Crane is President of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia (osgf.org), an estate of Rachel Lambert Mellon that includes an exquisite garden as well as an exceptional library focused on the history of plant science, plant exploration, and the development of gardens and landscape design. He is known internationally for his work on the diversity of plant life – its origin, fossil history, current status, conservation and use. Peter Crane was elected to the Royal Society – the UK academy of sciences in 1998 and was knighted in the UK for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a Member of the German Academy Leopoldina.  He is the recipient of several honorary degrees from universities in the UK and US, including honorary doctorates of science from the University of Connecticut and Sewanee: The University of the South, in the US, and Cambridge University in the UK. He received the International Prize for Biology in December 2014 and the Garden Club of America Medal of Honor in 2024.

---

Saturday, Oct 26
8:30-9:30 am

Welcome Speaker

Dr. Susanna Keriö

Forest Pathologist and Ecologist, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Chestnut research and restoration in Connecticut

Since the early 1900s, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has conducted work on chestnut blight. Through the efforts of scientists, students, landowners, land managers, and the active membership of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, the work to restore the American chestnut has continued in Connecticut. The talk highlights the past and ongoing efforts in chestnut research and restoration in Connecticut, showcases some unique chestnut plantings and chestnut trees, and presents the people doing the work in Connecticut. The talk also overviews recent regional and national efforts and breakthroughs, and how restoration of the American chestnut can improve forest resilience in the eastern United States.

Biography

Dr. Susanna Keriö is an Assistant Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES). Susanna has her background in forest pathology and forest ecology, with expertise in tree stress responses and tree resistance to fungal pathogens. Dr. Keriö earner her doctoral degree in forest ecology and pathology at the University of Helsinki, and conducted postdoctoral research at Oregon State University. Current research in the Keriö lab at CAES includes quantifying the impact of site factors on urban tree health, impacts of mycorrhizal inoculation on tree health, tissue culture of chestnuts, and how chestnuts respond to chestnut blight infection. Susanna is a board member on the Connecticut Urban Forest Council and on the Connecticut Tree Protection Examining Board. Susanna’s goal is to leverage her research for applications in tree health management to grow healthier trees and forests.

---

Saturday, Oct 26
9:45-10:45 am

Speaker

Tracy Zarrillo

Entomologist, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

The story of the lost chestnut bee, Andrena rehni, in Connecticut

When the American Chestnut vanished from the landscape, many insects that depended upon that tree species for survival also vanished. We may never know how many insect species went extinct from the loss of this keystone species in the environment, however we do know that some insect species managed to dodge the bullet, including a very tiny mining bee called Andrena rehni. The chestnut bee, Andrena rehni, is a pollen specialist of Castanea, meaning it only uses the pollen from chestnut or chinquapin to feed its young. A thriving population of this bee species was recently discovered in New England in the chestnut orchards at Lockwood Farm in Hamden, Connecticut in 2019, with subsequent detections in Massachusetts. There also appears to be remnant populations of Andrena rehni in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The mystery of how this bee species survived and where its strongholds currently are is being investigated.

Biography

Ms. Tracy Zarrillo is a melittologist who began her career at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) in 1992. She was initially hired as an Agricultural Research Assistant II and over the course of her early career she worked on a variety of research topics such as organic agricultural pest management practices, IPM, exotic pests, and forest insects. Since 2010, her work has primarily focused on pollinator diversity, pollinator health, and pollinator conservation. She is recognized as a regional wild bee expert by leading bee researchers across North America and is an active member of several national and international organizations that are working to assess the status of wild bee species across the globe. Ms. Zarrillo was promoted to Assistant Agricultural Scientist 1 in 2022 for her initiative and tangible accomplishments in pollinator research. She developed and managed a wild bee monitoring program for Connecticut which ran from 2010-2021 and is currently writing a checklist of confirmed bee species for Connecticut, highlighting rare and regionally declining species, species of historical significance for fruit pollination, and vulnerable species that have specific habitat and/or host requirements. She is also collaborating with the Connecticut Department of Energy and the Environment, the University of Rhode Island, and the National Resources Conservation Service on meadow restoration projects in Connecticut and is monitoring the response of wild bees to the improved habitat over time.

---

Saturday, Oct 26
11:00 am-12:00 pm

Speaker

Nickole Brown

Poet, Teacher, and Editor

A Kingdom of Green: Teaching the Poetry of Trees

In this time of great anxiety and unrest, fostering a deep literacy of the forest is perhaps more essential than ever, but it can be challenging. Students are often besieged with grief. Some are distracted, others are apathetic, and worse, some are resistant to learning, especially about trees. How then to break through? How to share not just the facts but cultivate a lasting experience that might bring learners close to trees, bridging the divide between our kingdom and theirs? Drawing from over twenty years of teaching creative writing workshops, poet Nickole Brown will share her successes (and failures) to give you some approaches to leading a class about (and for) trees. She’ll share teaching philosophies that have guided her as well as step-by-step assignments you can use with learners at any age or level of expertise. This session will give you tips for how to utilize a careful mix of research, observation techniques, and embodiment exercises to help others (and perhaps even your own self) story the facts and move forward with an awareness that doesn’t turn away, despite the news.

Biography

Nickole Brown received her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, studied literature at Oxford University, and was the editorial assistant for the late Hunter S. Thompson. She worked at Sarabande Books for ten years. She’s the author of Sister, first published in 2007 with a new edition reissued in 2018. Her second book, Fanny Says (BOA Editions), won the Weatherford Award for Appalachian Poetry in 2015. Nickole was an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, but the majority of her teaching experience has been on the road. She’s taught at conferences from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Homer, Alaska, and she’s led workshops at Poets House, Hugo House, the Hindman Settlement School, 24 Pearl Street at The Fine Arts Works Center at Provincetown, and many other places. Currently, she’s on faculty at the Sewanee School of Letters MFA Program and lives in Asheville, NC, where she volunteers at several different animal sanctuaries. Since 2016, she’s been writing about these animals. To Those Who Were Our First Gods, a chapbook of these first nine poems, won the 2018 Rattle Prize, and her essay-in-poems, The Donkey Elegies, was published by Sibling Rivalry Press in 2020. She’s President of the Hellbender Gathering of Poets, an annual environmental literary festival set to launch in Black Mountain, NC, in October 2025.

---

Saturday, Oct 26
3:00-4:00 pm

Speaker

Stephen J. Tulowiecki

Associate Professor of Geography and Sustainability Studies, SUNY Geneseo

Where was it, and why was it there? A geographer’s approach to mapping and modeling the historical distribution of the American chestnut

Essential to the successful restoration of the American chestnut is knowing the optimal environmental conditions for the tree species, as well as knowing its past geographic distribution. But how do researchers know where chestnut trees grew in the past – a species which went functionally extinct more than a century ago? This talk covers the methods of mapping and modeling the historical distribution of the American chestnut. It presents an overview of conventional and unconventional data sources for range reconstruction such as fossil pollen, land survey records, legacy vegetation studies, other historical documents, and even toponyms (place names). It explains how researchers have used historical observations of chestnut to inform models of the past distribution of chestnut. It also shows how comparing historical observations with climate, soil, terrain, and land-use data can reveal the environmental conditions under which the chestnut thrived.

Biography

Stephen J. Tulowiecki is an Associate Professor of Geography & Sustainability Studies at The State University of New York at Geneseo. He teaches courses in varied topics such as geographic information systems, statistics, environmental issues, and mountain geography. His research interests are in forest ecosystems of the eastern US, particularly Native American management of forested landscapes, and the geographic distribution of rare and interesting tree species such as the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) and pawpaw (Asimina triloba).

---

Saturday, Oct 26
Chestnut Celebration Dinner
6:30-8:30 pm

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Mark S. Ashton

Senior Associate Dean of The Forest School; Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology; Yale University

What replaced the American chestnut in New England? Future forests in a changing world

Everyday human perspectives of time and forest development are different from our scientific understanding of the actual growth and dynamics of forests. For millions of years, forests have co-evolved with their climates and with the disturbances that climates promote. Humans have made their livelihoods within forests for thousands of years. New England forests are no different. New England forests originated after the last glaciation and have been changing in their composition, structure, and dynamics ever since. But in the last three hundred years they have exponentially been impacted by both chronic and episodic anthropogenic disturbances that are ongoing and increasing. I will discuss the role that chestnuts played in the New England forest before its demise and how these forests responded in both structural and compositional change to chestnut’s absence in an unpredictable world of changing climate and exotic plants, pathogens and insects.

Biography

Dr. Mark Ashton is a Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Director of Yale Forests, and Senior Associate Dean for The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment. His research focuses on the biological and physical processes governing the regeneration of natural forests and the mechanisms underlying the diversity of forest ecosystems and their adaptability to climate change. He conducts his long-term research in both temperate and tropical forests and has worked in forests from New England to Sri Lanka and from Canada to Brazil.

---