2008 AHS Garden School
Trees of the American Landscape

 

Garden School Speaker Profiles

Meet the Guest Horticulturist: Dean Norton

Dean Norton is the director of horticulture at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens. Dean began his career at Mount Vernon in 1969 as a high school student. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in ornamental horticulture from Clemson University, he returned to Mount Vernon as its first boxwood gardener. Three years later, Dean became the estate’s horticulturist. Dean has taught courses through the United States Department of Agriculture Graduate School and for George Washington University. In 1994, Dean received the Garden Club of America’s Award for Conservation, and in 1999, a conservation medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 2006, Dean received the American Horticultural Society’s Professional Award.
 


Tony AielloTony Aiello has served as director of horticulture and curator of the living collection at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania since 1999. He oversees the arboretum’s historic gardens and dynamic plant collections. As part of his curatorial duties, he has participated in plant collecting trips to the Southern Appalachian Mountains, China, and Europe. Previously, Tony was curator of woody plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and worked in the horticulture department at Iowa State University. Tony received his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Cornell University and Master of Science degree in horticulture from Purdue University.

Mike Hayman is a tree enthusiast who has significantly impacted the Louisville, Kentucky, landscape. Following a storm in 1987 that destroyed many mature trees, Mike initiated a neighborhood arboretum that continues to thrive 20 years later. A journalist for The Courier-Journal in Louiseville, Mike has drawn attention to the value of trees in the landscape, inspiring the city, neighborhoods, civic groups, and municipalities to plant diverse tree populations. In 1992, Mike received the Gold Leaf Award for Outstanding Landscape Beautification Activities from the Kentucky Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, and in 1996, he received the American Horticultural Society’s Local Horticulture Award and the Kentucky Garden Club’s Kentucky Enrichment Award.

Holli Howard manages the Geographic Information Systems shop at Casey Trees as director of data gathering and analysis. Casey Trees, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring, enhancing, and protecting the tree canopy of
the Nation's Capital, has developed several innovative tools to increase awareness of the benefits that trees provide. Holli received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Science degree in environmental science from the University of Tasmania, Australia. She is also an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist and a Master Gardener.

Tom SmileyTom Smiley is an arboricultural researcher at the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory in Charlotte, North Carolina, and an adjunct professor of urban forestry at Clemson University. He has a Master of Science degree in plant pathology from Colorado State University and his doctorate in urban forestry from Michigan State University. Tom serves as the chair of the International Society of Arboriculture’s (ISA) Best Management Practices committee. He also chairs the ISA’s Board Certified Master Arborist Committee and is the past president of the Society’s Southern Chapter. In 2004, Tom was named the “Arborist of the Year” by the Society of Commercial Arborists, and in 2005, he received the ISA’s Research Award.

Guy SternbergGuy Sternberg is a landscape architect, arborist, tree consultant, writer, lecturer, and photographer based in Illinois. The author of Native Trees for North American Landscapes, Guy has propagated and grown hundreds of species of native and nonnative trees, and maintains his own research arboretum, Starhill Forest, with his wife, Edie. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in horticulture and landscape architecture from Purdue University. Guy was the first president of the International Oak Society and is a life member of the International Dendrology Society, International Society of Arboriculture, and American Forests.

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