Creating Canopy: the biology and practice of establishing trees and woodlands for people and nature

Summary Description:

The AAB ‘Applied Tree and Forest Biology’ specialist group is organising this three-day conference at the University of Nottingham in November 2023. This event has two phases. Firstly a two-day conference will shine a light on new and emerging priorities, latest research and technical advances related to creating canopy. Secondly on day 3 they will host a workshop co-organised by the FraxNet Ash Network. Delegates are invited to join for one, two or three days, either in-person or virtually. Support requested to fund early career professionals to attend.

Project Outcomes:

Ten delegates benefitted from this fund; these are some of their reflections from the event.

"I was fascinated by the myriad research on tree species that could withstand climate change in the future and the various strategies being used to enhance their ecological and human benefits. I also learnt how IoT technologies would be useful in real-time monitoring of tree stress, as it is often done in agricultural settings. I think these techniques would be critical in managing tree plantations due to climate change’s eminent rise in extreme weather conditions." William Hagan Brown, University of Plymouth

"This conference was one of the first opportunities we have had to discuss the new University of Leeds research woodland, Gair Wood, with a specialist audience... We were pleased to have some very useful feedback from the conference attendees, and a real highlight of this meeting was being able to talk about the project with so many people from a wide range of forestry backgrounds." Thomas Sloan, University of Leeds

 "Attending the FraxNet meeting as a new entrant to forestry broadened my perspective significantly. It equipped me with new knowledge and approaches critical for my PhD research and highlighted the importance of considering various environmental factors in our work... the meeting was not just an academic conference but a key step in my academic journey. The knowledge and contacts I gained will influence the direction and success of my research." Freya Cole, Forest Re search

"I felt the more experienced scientists or practitioners were very kind and engaging with the postgrads about our work/projects and it was great to talk to everyone. Of course, the talks themselves were also fantastic and there wasn’t a single one that I didn’t enjoy or take something from." Katerina Chernyuk, University College Cork  

"The conference featured a diverse range of sessions and discussions, providing valuable insights into the solutions for reforestation and conservation in woodlands with participants from different institutions from both academia and non-academia... The support enabled me to actively participate in the conference and presented my research titled 'Assessing the Genetic Diversity of Selected Alder Plus Trees in Existing Irish Gene Banks'. The feedback received and subsequent interactions with fellow participants added depth to my work and offered avenues for future collaboration."  Jie Huang, Trinity College Dublin/Teagasc Forestry Development Department 

"As a postdoctoral researcher fresh out of my PhD, the Creating Canopies meeting provided a great opportunity to connect with tree and forest researchers and practitioners and further my professional network as an early-career researcher. There was a great diversity of work presented, from climate change and social science to forest ecology and silviculture. I thoroughly enjoyed presenting on my current postdoctoral work – the iDeer project, funded by Future of UK Treescapes. We received a lot of interest following the presentation and we have made important connections that will contribute to the efficacy of the iDeer project." Amy Gresham, University of Reading