Jamie Daughtery Hagyari is a certified arborist with a diverse professional background and one of our UF/ IFAS Urban Forestry Extension agents. In a recent interview, she spoke with us about her educational and professional journey and how collaboration plays a role in her urban forestry work. Her career spans multiple specialties in urban forestry, including utility forestry, community forestry, and education. She has worked in New York City and in several counties in Florida. Jamie has been with UF/IFAS Extension since 2020 but began her current role as the Florida Friendly Landscaping and Urban Forestry Agent in Sumter County in 2024. Jamie represents UF/ IFAS on the Florida Urban Forestry Council (FUFC) Executive Board. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and is working on her doctoral degree at the University of Florida.
The future of urban forestry comes from working together.
Jamie tells us how urban forestry can improve residents’ quality of life. “As we become a more urbanized society, we need to keep nature around us for our health and that of our environment. Urban forestry projects can help foster community collaborations and neighborhood relationships. Having street trees and urban parks brings communities together.” Engaging the public is key to tree preservation in communities. Residents can be powerful allies in this effort, and they can gain social benefits from participating in urban forestry. For instance, Jamie shared how her work has emphasized the positive effects of urban forestry on the community, “When in New York City, we used to do mass planting events with volunteers during reforestation efforts in parks. We would plant thousands of trees with hundreds of people. At every event, we would see people with a common interest coming together as strangers and leaving as friends. It was a powerful thing to see.”
“Collaboration is all about working smarter.”
Jamie tells us how collaborative efforts in urban forestry and Extension have led to her successes. She says, “Collaboration takes many forms. It can be assisting in creating or delivering a program, sharing existing programs, working together to write content, helping to edit content, or even simply brainstorming ideas.” Jamie described how collaborative actions amplified her capacity on new projects and are key to engaging her audiences.
“Since I started with Extension nearly five years ago, I have always been a big fan of collaborations. It helps an agent get more work done, have a broader impact, and give more chances for presentations and awards. We all have the same goals; we might as well help each other get there! It also helps our audiences when we can collaborate with people. We each have our strengths. Through partnerships, we can share those strengths, get help from others with strengths different from our own, and expand our knowledge while providing our audience stronger programming.”
Coordinated working groups like the Urban Forestry Extension Council (UFEC) support overall urban forestry goals in Florida. By working with UFEC and FUFC, Jamie stays connected to a network of experts and educators focused on improving urban forestry in Florida. The UFEC is currently developing a Florida tree steward manual authored by 12 professional and academic experts. The Florida Tree Steward Manual will help future volunteers advocate for and support urban forestry initiatives across the state.
To learn more about the Urban Forestry Extension Council and stay up to date about new initiatives in urban forestry from the University of Florida, subscribe to the UFEC newsletter, Canopy Connections: https://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/urban-forestry-extension-council/about/
Connect with Jamie and learn more about her ongoing programs and projects: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/lakeco/author/jamielyncdaugherty/
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