Michael R. Gallagher

 Since my days as a young passenger in my parents’ canoe on the little rivers of southern New Jersey, I have always loved the outdoors. A New Jersey native, I was born in Teaneck but raised just outside the Pine Barrens in Voorhees Township. Of all the activities and hobbies I had as a child, exploring the woods and looking for animals was my favorite thing to do. I recall that as a four year old, I was particularly preoccupied with gathering buckets of bugs from the yard and bringing them into the house to show my mom. She wasn’t too keen on me bringing bugs in the house, but it did prompt her to get me my first field guide, the National Audubon Society’s Field Guide to Insects and Spiders, which I still use today. When I was old enough, I joined Boy Scouts with most of my friends and lived for weekend hiking and canoeing adventures. These trips, which led me to become an Eagle Scout, without a doubt strengthened my appreciation for the natural environment.

My interest in plants began in high school with my first job at a nursery called Popes’ Gardens. Starting work in the early spring, I was dazzled at watching the thousands of plug trays in the greenhouses grow from seeds into thriving mature plants. During the two years that I worked there, Mr. Pope taught me a great deal about growing plants, working with clients, and managing a business; and he strongly encouraged me to go to Rutgers to learn more about plants and the environment. As it turned out, Rutgers couldn’t have been a better fit for me.

As I finish up my last semester and make plans to pursue a master’s degree in urban forestry, I can think of three professors in the Ecology and Natural Resources department who have inspired me and taught me the most during my stay at Rutgers. My passion for trees started sophomore year in Mark Vodak’s dendrology class, for which I was later a teaching assistant. Each week the class would go on a field trip to look at trees in a unique habitat, and occasionally he would give everyone a free field guide. I also had a great time working on his tree farm during the holiday seasons with other students where we discussed the economics of tree farms and plantations. I have also learned a great deal from Rick Lathrop from his winter field ecology course, vernal pool hikes, and his GIS program. Not only have his courses provided me with doors to future careers, but have made for some great memories. One time during winter field ecology after we had been tracking a snowshoe hare for a about a half hour Rick picked up what he said was the hare’s scat. After convincing most of the class that the only true way to identify it was by taste, we had a good laugh when a student actually tried some and found out that Rick had given him sundried black olives. Jason Grabosky has also proven to be a great teacher and friend in the time that I’ve known him. With an applied science focus that is relevant to the current job market and an eagerness to involve students in his research, he is a great resource to his students. For the past year I have been working on a George H. Cook Honors thesis in his urban forestry lab, developing a new method of visualizing decay and associated wood structure in trees. This project, which I have presented at two conferences, has attracted the attention of universities in the United States and Australia, and has earned me an offer to continue my studies in urban forestry at the University of Massachusetts with a fully funded assistantship.

 This summer, before graduate school, I plan to continue doing research at the urban forestry lab. I also hope to take a month to drive across country and visit cities and national parks. In the long run, I hope to have a career as a professor who can be as knowledgeable and giving as those that have guided me, and use my skills to make a positive change in the world.