Street Tree Survival in Philadelphia and Canopy Soils

Levon Bigelow

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)

Levon is a research fellow with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) working on a project with U.S. Forest Service researchers.

Levon received a bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources from Rutgers University in 2018, where he became interested in urban forestry.

He interned with Bartlett Tree Experts and the New Jersey Forest Service prior to graduating and continuing on as a forestry technician in the New Jersey Forest Service’s Urban & Community Forestry program. After gaining some part-time experience as program assistant with the New Jersey Tree Foundation (non-profit tree planting organization) and working on a project with the Rutgers Urban Forestry program, Levon moved to New York City to work as a street tree planting forester in the Parks & Recreation department.

On a quest to become more knowledgeable in the field, Levon pursued a master’s degree from the University of Connecticut in Natural Resources and the Environment. There, he studied street tree dynamics in an urban system (Philadelphia) while also working as a volunteer coordinator for Connecticut’s Urban Forestry program. He returned to New Jersey to work as a forester in the Urban & Community Forestry program before deciding to pursue his interest in research-oriented projects. Now, Levon works as a research fellow with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) in conjunction with U.S. Forest Service researchers. Their project, based in California, focuses on tree dynamics on schoolyard campuses.

Korena Mafune

Korena Mafune was born and raised outside of Seattle, and has always been passionate about Washington’s beautiful and diverse ecosystems. She is a proud Japanese-American and the first in her family to receive a degree.

She received her B.S. in Restoration Ecology and Environmental Horticulture from the University of Washington in 2013, where she completed an independent Capstone Project with Dr. Jon Bakker. The project focused on restoring native prairies, and this is really when she started 'digging' deep into soils and their below-ground processes, She knew she wanted to continue to research the 'hidden half', so directly upon completion of her B.S., she applied and was accepted to UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) graduate program. She completed her M.S. in 2015, which was a pilot study exploring adventitious rooting systems in canopy soils (thick organic soil mats that form on tree branches!!). The results from this study resulted in many local and non-profit organizations funding the entirety of her PhD research.

For her PhD, Korena worked closely with Drs. Daniel and Kristiina Vogt, who run the interdisciplinary Vogt Lab of Ecosystem and Conservation Ecology. This research focused on nutrient dynamics and root-associated fungi in canopy soils (thick mats of organic matter on tree branches) located in Washington State’s old-growth temperate rainforests. During this time, she was also the main instructor for the department's Soil Ecology Course. She also helped teach Soils & Land Use, Soils & Site Productivity, Mycorrhizas & The Ecosystem, Environmental Resource Assessment, and Sustaining Pacific Northwest Ecosystems. In the past, she has also instructed geology labs and biology field trips.

As Korena wrapped up her PhD, she was named a 2021 Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. In October 2021, she joined the Winkler Lab. Her postdoctoral research focuses on tripartite interactions among plants, fungi, and bacteria, and how certain types of bacteria and fungi can be harnessed for sustainable agricultural practices.

On the side, you can find Korena participating in science communication and collaborating with organizations inside and outside of academia to broaden the participation of under-represented communities in STEM.