Anna Funk🌻
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itsdrfunk.bsky.social
Anna Funk🌻
@itsdrfunk.bsky.social
Science communicator | Strategic leadership for conservation orgs | Ph.D. prairie ecology | Kansas City, MO | Founder, Ampliflora | bio.link/itsdrfunk
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Learn more & apply here: holdenfg.org/career-and-i...
Career & Internships » HF&G
Holden Forests & Gardens is not just a great place to visit, it’s a wonderful place to work. Discover the opportunities now available for potential
holdenfg.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Anyway, here are some quick facts: Full-time, grant-funded through December 2026 with potential for renewal. In-person at Holden Arboretum (Kirtland, OH) or U.S. Forest Service office (Delaware, OH) with regular fieldwork across the region. Apply by December 31. Not sure on salary but you can ask!
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
As a perk, whoever steps into this role will likely work with me quite a bit! So that's a bonus! Well, that, and, you're literally helping secure the future of our forests. Hard to say which is more compelling... 😇
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
This means training people, facilitating research partnerships, maybe writing grants, while also managing things like candidate tree monitoring and seed orchard development. In other words, it's a big, complex role that requires resistance breeding skills, organizational skills, and people skills.
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The coordinator will continue to build this network of folks from federal and state agencies, NGOs, universities, etc etc. The collective goal is to find, breed for resistance, and eventually replant pest-resistant trees. The Collaborative's goal is to support the people making that happen.
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The Collaborative leads critical regional efforts saving ash, elm, beech, and hemlock from invasive pests threatening their survival (think: emerald ash borer plus newer pests bothering different species).
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Holden is seeking a Forest Health Coordinator to take the reins on the Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative.

See: holdenfg.org/great-lakes-...
Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative » HF&G
Our forests are in trouble. Invasive insects and diseases threaten critical species like ash, elm, beech, and hemlock, especially in the Great Lakes Basin
holdenfg.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
I can't wait to listen to this!!! I am so obsessed with the music and general americana in the show (whomst among us isnt)
November 14, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Anywho, find the Fall 2025 Forests & Gardens issue here: holdenfg.org/forests-and-...

Thanks for reading byeee ✌️
Forests and Gardens Magazine » HF&G
Published quarterly, Forests & Gardens magazine keeps members up-to-date on research, horticulture and community forestry news, upcoming
holdenfg.org
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
“We say a lot that it feels like Lord of the Rings. Just these giant trees you can’t wrap your arms around,” Sarah Carrino-Kyker, who does a lot of work there, told me. So jealous!!

(Image: Thranduil’s Halls by John Howe)
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Besides being important to research, old growth forests are also just awesome to see.

(Bonus photo: Me in a cool forest that is not an old growth forest, as usual.)
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
It’s how we know what we’re aiming for with forest management and restoration efforts, and it’s how we know what is lost if we keep degrading the land.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
It’s critical that these types of places are studied — we need to know the actual differences between these healthy ancient stands and the forests we have today.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
There are two of them at the Holden Arboretum (in Ohio) — Stebbins Gulch and Bole Woods — and the science team at Holden has the great privilege of having them on-hand for their research.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
In the fall issue of Forests & Gardens magazine, I wrote about why old forests like this matter.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
By some estimates MO has about 800 acres of high quality old growth, and only one site in the OGFN. ONE! (Big Oak Tree State Park.) Anyway, you get my point.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
For reference, I looked up how many old growth forests there are in Illinois, where I grew up. According to the Old Growth Forest Network (OGFN) registry, there are five. “But Anna,” you say, “Illinois is not a foresty place.” OK, fine, let’s do Missouri:
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
When you see a forest near you, it was probably logged at least once in the past — if not completely plowed and planted in agriculture at some point. The trees you see today are what has grown back.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
“Old growth” means the site has never been disturbed, never been anything other than a forest. And in most of America (and lots of other places too) these types of places are really, really rare.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM