This month Sonoma County UCCE would like to welcome our new Forestry advisor. Michael Jones. Michael will be serving Sonoma County as a Forestry Advisor.

From Michael:

I joined UCCE on October 1, 2018 as the Forestry Advisor for Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. I specialize in forest entomology with a focus on forest health and integrated pest management of invasive and endemic forest pests.

I completed a Ph.D. in Entomology from State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a B.S. in Environmental Biology and Management from UC Davis.

Prior to joining UCCE, I was a Research Project Assistant (graduate student) at State University of New York. I developed and maintained research projects on delimitation, management, and biological control of the invasive forest pest emerald ash borer in New York. From 2010 to 2013, I was a research associate in the Department of Entomology, UC Davis in collaboration with the US Forest Service, Forest Health Protection in southern California. I participated in a variety of forest pest research projects involving the detection, evaluation, and management of native and invasive forest pests, including goldspotted oak borer. I have been active in leading training activities for land managers and owners in the field identification and management of forest pests, and training and supervising field crews in the collection of forestry data. My journey in forest health started as an undergraduate at UC Davis, where I worked on sudden oak death in the department of Plant Pathology.

 

My experiences in forest health, ecology, and management have given me the skills to be of service to land owners and managers who want to practice good forest stewardship with a focus of creating healthy and resilient forests, not only against insects and disease, but also fire. I intend to expand and advance my skill-set to help land owners and managers with forestry related issues unique to California and across all sizes of forested land, be it from a few trees to a large forested area.

 I moved to the town of Sonoma in high school and have been fascinated by the area ever since. My family goes back eight generations in California, and I feel very fortunate to be able to move back to the area (Healdsburg) to start my career. I look forward to working with Sonoma County, and helping land owners and managers deal with forestry challenges faced by the county, particularly after the fires of 2017, but also looking into the future.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I look forward to working with and meeting members of the Sonoma County community.

Michael I. Jones, PhD| Forest Advisor

UC Cooperative Extension - Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma

890 North Bush Street | Ukiah, CA 95482
(707) 463-6344 office | (707) 338-7457 cell | mjones@ucanr.edu

http://cemendocino.ucanr.edu/ | http://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/