Welcome! Please check in here FIRST

Hello everyone, and welcome to our discussion forum for the Visualizing Sudden Oak Death e-conference! Before you begin reading the keynote addresses and posting comments, please briefly introduce yourself. I'll begin...

I'm Janice Alexander, the Outreach Coordinator for the California Oak Mortality Task Force and a forest educator and outreach specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Marin County. I look forward to speaking (virtually) with you over the next two weeks via this discussion forum.

Thanks for joining the "Visualizing Sudden Oak Death" discussions.  

Susan Frankel here, plant pathologist with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station near Berkeley, CA.   I'm eager to read your ideas on these sudden oak death topics.

Note. In another area, Janice Alexander explained that you should not download anything in this "Forumotion" interface.  This is a free interactive platform and we can't avoid advertisements and other miscellanous intrusions. To join these discussions, you do not need to download anything so ignore any requests or instructions to download material.

Hi everyone.  I'm Katie Palmieri, the Public Information Officer for the CA Oak Mortality Task Force and UC Berkeley as well as the Editor-in-Chief for the California Forest Pest Council.

Welcome to the Forum and "Visualizing Sudden Oak Death" E-Conference.  I look forward to interacting with you over the next couple of weeks.  Please be sure to join us on Twitter @SodComtf for updates as events unfold!

Hi, Tom Kimmerer here.  I am a tree physiologist and Chief Scientist of Venerable Trees, a nonprofit devoted to the conservation of ancient trees in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.  We have a very large number of old trees (300 plus years) that predate permanent settlement of the region in 1779.  Among our thousands of ancient trees, about 1/2 are oaks (bur, chinkapin and Shumard).  We are concerned about the possibility of introduction of SOD into our region.  We are already beset by the emerald ash borer, and there are Asian longhorned beetles close to our area in Ohio.  The forum won't let me post a link, but you can visit venerabletrees.org for more information.

I need to stay up to date with the current work on SOD, and this looks like a good place to do it.  Thanks for hosting this!

Welcome everyone to the forum. Mark Stanley here. I am the Chair of the California Oak Mortality Task Force and Retired Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Please check out the other discussion topics and get involved in the discussions throughout the next few weeks.

Hi All,  Richard Cobb, Post-doc at UC-Davis.  Looking forward to the discussion.

Hi all, my name is Jason Liske here to stay connected with the issues affecting our Oaks.

I'm interested in collaborating on projects that will have a net positive affect on the tree-human interface, on projects that bring more awareness and attention to the issues affecting our Oak and our nation's forests. I hope my contribution as a photographer can help this important issue we face.

Good to meet you!

Hello. I am with the University of California. I serve as the Forest Advisor for Cooperative Extension program in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. I have been involved with actively managing infested forest lands for the last 10 years. I look forward to the conversation!

Greetings.  I'm Liz Bernhardt, Phytosphere Research.  Thanks to the organizers.  From a preliminary look at the conference website there is lots to explore!

Hello Everyone. I'm Sarah Navarro and I am a Plant Health Specialist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. I am involved with conducting surveys, molecular diagnostics, and management practices related to sudden oak death in the nursery industry here in Oregon.

Hello all. I am Whalen Dillon, a PhD student with Ross Meentemeyer at NC State University. But don't let the location throw you too much, I have done some extensive field research as well as analysis, and I am looking forward to the discussion over the next couple of weeks. I am particularly keen to find out how we might be able to leverage current datasets to answer pressing questions, as well as develop some new ones.

Hello everyone.  I am David Davison and I am a Plant Pathologist with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry.  I have been involved with P. ramorum for quite a number of years with nursery surveys, stream baiting with the USFS (Steve Oak),  as well as being one of NPPLAP certified testers for P. ramorum for the State of Florida.  

I am looking forward to learning as much as possible over the next few weeks.

Hi all, Ted Swiecki of Phytosphere Research (Vacaville CA) checking in.  My partner Liz Bernhardt and I have been involved in SOD research since 2000 and are working on a number of ongoing research projects.

Hi. I'm Jennifer Parke, a plant pathologist at Oregon State University in Corvallis. I work on Phytophthora ramorum and other Phytophthora species primarily in nurseries.

Howdy. I'm Brendan Twieg--Research Associate at UC Cooperative Extension, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. My current job entails tracking the (expanding) distribution of the sudden oak death pathogen in northcoast California, doing public outreach, and researching forest management strategies to deal with the disease.