Staff

  • Elise Schadler Program Manager

    Elise Schadler

    Program Manager

    VT Forests, Parks & Recreation
    111 West Street
    Essex Junction, VT 05452
    United States

    elise.schadler@vermont.gov

    802-522-6015

    Contact Elise if you have questions about:

    • Program administration
    • ​Grants programs
    • ​Partnerships​
    • Recognition programs
    • Vermont Tree Warden Statutes 
    • Tree City/Tree Campus/Tree Line USA

    Elise is our Program Manager and has been with VT UCF since 2012. Raised in Ohio, after college she joined the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps for a pivotal year of introduction to the country's varying natural landscapes as well as social, economic, and environmental issues. Next, she directed a tree planting program in Camden, NJ before venturing north to pursue her graduate degree from the Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. She is an ISA Certified Arborist,, a graduate of the Municipal Forestry Institute and the Green Communities Leadership Institute, and a Burlington Master Naturalist. When not working Elise can be found in her garden, in the lake (all year round), or with her husband, two children, or the many other good people that fill her life.

  • Joanne Garton Technical Assistance Coordinator

    Joanne Garton

    Technical Assistance Coordinator

    VT Forests, Parks & Recreation
    1 National Life Drive, Davis 2
    Montpelier, VT 05620
    United States

    joanne.garton@vermont.gov

    802-249-4217

    Contact Joanne if you have questions about:

    • Public and shade tree inventories
    • Urban tree data
    • Community science projects
    • Ash tree inventories and c​ommunity preparedness for emerald ash borer
    • Black ash in Vermont
    • Tree warden support
    • Shade tree preservation plans and municipal tree policy

    Joanne joined the UCF team in the spring of 2017 as the project coordinator for the rural roads portion of the burgeoning Resilient Right-of-Ways project, a state-led initiative focused on assisting municipalities with smart and forward-thinking vegetation management along their roads. Now serving all of the technical needs of communities working with trees in public ways and places, Joanne continues the robust data collection, writing, outreach, and information sharing that the UCF program delivers. Joanne holds a B.Scs. in geology and architecture from McGill University and is a 2015 graduate of the Field Naturalist and Ecological Planning M.Sc. program at the University of Vermont. She is an active fiddler, performing and teaching at dances and festivals throughout New England. And when home, she enjoys the quaint life of downtown Montpelier.

  • Gwen Kozlowski

    Gwen Kozlowski

    Outreach & Education Coordinator

    UVM Extension
    140 Kennedy Drive, Suite 201
    South Burlington, VT 05403
    United States

    gwen.kozlowski@uvm.edu

    802-656-7638

    • Vermont Arbor Day Conference
    • Community Canopy Program
    • Teens Reaching Youth (TRY)- Forest and Trees Program
    • Tree Stewards Volunteer Program
    • Website issues (VtCommunityForestry.org and VTinvasives.org)

    Gwen returned to Vermont to join the VT UCF team as the Education and Outreach Coordinator in May 2015. She completed her undergraduate degree in Natural Resources at UVM. Since then, Gwen has worked throughout New England in the field as a researcher and in communities as an educator. She is passionate about helping connect people to the important natural resources all around us, whether it's an urban park or rural landscape. She was previously the Stewardship & Education Manager at the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust.

  • Ginger Nickerson

    Ginger Nickerson

    Forest Pest Education Coordinator

    UVM Extension
    327 US Route 302, Suite 1
    Barre, VT 05641
    United States

    ginger.nickerson@uvm.edu

    802-656-4831

    Contact Ginger if you have questions about:

    • Invasive forest pests
    • Education & outreach events on invasive forest pests
    • Forest Pest First Detector Program
    • VTinvasives.org and our bi-monthly newsletter

    Ginger joined the UCF team as the Forest Pest Education Coordinator in the fall of 2018. Many of Ginger’s fondest memories involve trees and forests – including “running away from home” to sit in the branches of a hemlock in her family’s backyard in Massachusetts. With an undergraduate degree in botany from the University of Wisconsin and a graduate degree in Natural Resource Management Policy and Behavior from the University of Michigan, Ginger has long been fascinated by people’s relationship with plants and the land, and in finding ways to maximize community input in natural resource management decisions. To that end, Ginger spent a number of years after graduate school working for community development and conservation organizations in New England, Appalachia, and Central America. Some of her favorite projects involved training teens in Maine and Nicaragua to interview elders in their communities about how fishing, farming, hunting, and logging had changed over time. Prior to joining the UCF team, Ginger worked for UVM Extension’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture, helping fruit and vegetable farmers with food safety strategies.

  • Adam McCullough

    Adam McCullough

    Urban Forester

    VT Forests, Parks & Recreation
    1 National Life Drive, Davis 2
    Montpelier, VT 05620
    United States

    adam.mccullough@vermont.gov

    (802)522-5104

    Contact Adam if you have questions about:

    • Tree selection, planting, maintenance, and protection
    • Planning for urban forest management
    • Growing street trees
    • Chainsaws, ropes, and equipment
    • Tree felling and climbing techniques
    • Tree cabling systems
    • Youth involvement with the urban forest
    • Cost benefit analysis of tree care options

    Adam grew up in Montpelier, Vermont and fell in love with trees at a young age, fascinated by climbing them and by their biology. He has extensive experience with hands-on conservation work and especially tree work, and has applied those skills to create meaningful outdoor experiences for Youth at Risk throughout Vermont’s woods. The newest member of the VT UCF team, Adam began his journey as the Urban Forester in September 2023. Like any public forest, the Urban Forest provides public good that is shared by all. Adam’s focus is on innovative tree installations in densely built urban environments that will maximize those benefits for the community members that need them the most.