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| Professor Ning displays her prestigious international award |
Baton Rouge, La. (August 9, 2017) - Dr. Zhu H. Ning, an Endowed Professor at the Urban
Forestry and Natural Resources Department of the Southern University and
A&M College System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the 2017 recipient of the International
Society of Arboriculture’s (ISA) prestigious Alex L.
Shigo Award for Excellence in Arboricultural Education.
According to the ISA, this Award of Distinction is
presented to Professor Ning in recognition of her dedication to enhancing the
quality and professionalism of arboriculture through sustained excellence in education.
Ning was recognized
during the opening ceremony of the ISA Annual International Conference and
Trade Show on Sunday, July 30, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
The ISA, headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, USA, is
a professional organization supporting urban forestry and arboricultural
research, education, and outreach around the world. ISA, with more than 30,000 members and credential holders
worldwide, has been honoring members and industry professionals with the Awards
of Distinction since 1963. Nominations are reviewed by the ISA Awards Committee
and winners are selected then presented to the ISA Board for approval.
Through her professional
services to ISA, Dr. Ning has made significant impacts on arboricultural education
at the national and international level. She was elected as a member of the ISA
Board of Directors and contributed to the ISA strategic direction including
education and research policy development that ensures the educators,
scientists, practitioners, and students to receive advanced and best available
arboricultural and urban forestry knowledge.
While serving as the ISA
President of the Arboriculture Research and Education Academy and member of the
ISA Science and Research Committee, she played an important role in identifying
emerging education issues and research needs. She also served on the ISA
Conference Program Committee to organize the conference education
programs/sessions and workshops.
Ning has been an Associate Editor and an
Editorial Board member of the Journal of
Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, one of the two premier urban
forestry journals in the world. Her contributions to the Board and to the
Journal have made lasting impacts on the journal’s quality and the scholarly
endeavors of the educators and students. She has also served as a peer reviewer
of the ISA Arborists’ Certification Study
Guide book, arboriculture and urban forestry articles, and book chapters.
Ning’s dedication and impact on urban forestry
education extends beyond the borders. She has influenced the development of
scientific exchange in urban forestry between USA and China. Supported by the
ISA, Ning chaired and organized the first “Urban Forest Sustainability
International Symposium.” Her efforts provided education and scientific exchange
platform for international educators, scientists, practitioners, and students
from four continents.
“Dr. Ning’s work with the international symposium not
only helped promote arboriculture in China, but also introduced the world’s
most populous country to ISA,”
says Michelle Mitchell, ISA Board president. “Ning also led a team in translating ISA’s Arboriculture
Dictionary into Chinese, which helped advance arboriculture education in
China.”
“I am deeply humbled for being honored with this
award. I want to thank the ISA and its members for nominating, selecting, and
honoring me with this highest award in arboricultural education. I would like
to acknowledge Southern University, NSF, NASA, USDA NIFA, ISA, and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS) for their support to my research and education
efforts that benefit the students both in USA and China,” Ning said.
With the new course
contents and teaching modules, Ning has contributed to the enhancement of the
Urban Forestry Master’s degree curriculum at Southern University by designing, developing,
and enhancing an arboricultural course titled “Tree Biomechanics.” She
encourages students to learn tree structure, function and physiological
processes in an interconnected way, and challenges students to apply the
learned knowledge in identifying tree structural problems, conducting tree risk
assessment, and developing mitigation strategies.
She has also created a
new course titled “Sustainable Natural Resources in a Changing Climate.” Ning
has incorporated climate change and sustainability, two issues of critical
importance to the world, to the SU’s Urban Forestry B.S. curriculum, which is a
significant effort in enhancing urban forestry education and enabling students
to be familiar with related current and potential national initiatives.
With the support from her
externally funded nationally competitive grants and projects, such as “Quantifying the response of urban
tree species to elevated CO2 and flooding,” “Integrating Sustainability in Urban Forestry and Agriculture Education,”
and “Enhancing global competence
and research skills in climate change and urban ecosystems through
collaborative research in China,” Ning provided experiential learning
opportunities and hands-on research training that enable students to enhance
their research skills and knowledge, and strengthen their global
competency.
Dr. Ning’s externally
funded projects have been a valuable tool in recruitment and retention that
enabled her and the department to attract, select, and retain highly qualified
new recruits both at undergraduate and graduate levels, through providing
professional development opportunities, research stipends for undergraduate
students, assistantships for graduate students, and salaries for post -
doctoral trainees.
Utilizing her grant
writing skills, she has created and taught a new Ph.D. level course called “Proposal
Development and Grant Writing.” She offers students the principles in
developing a proposal, teaches how to write a proposal, leads them in exploring
the funding opportunities, guides students in preparing a grant application,
and prepares
them for a competitive workforce.
For more
information, please contact Zhu H. Ning at zhu_ning@subr.edu or 225-771-6292.
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