The University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is proud to announce that Outreach Coordinator Meg Smolinski, has passed the exam to earn the title of International Society of Arboriculture Board Certified Master Arborist®. Fewer than 2% of certified arborists are Board Certified Master Arborists and in order to qualify to sit the ISA Board Certified Master Arborist® exam, a potential applicant must meet very specific requirements involving 10 or more years of professional work experience, or a combination of academic and professional work experience. In addition to prior knowledge and experience, Board Certified Master Arborists® need to earn 60 CEUs to maintain certification every three years.
Currently the Outreach Coordinator for the University of Maryland’s Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, Meg has been a certified arborist since 2017. She is also a proud alumna of the University’s Institute of Applied Agriculture. During the program, she completed two internships, one with the US National Arboretum in Washington, DC and the other at Monticello, in Charlottesville. Previous to pursuing horticulture, she completed a BA in art history from the University of Notre Dame and worked in museum administration at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the Smithsonian Institution. During that time, she volunteered with Smithsonian Gardens and Casey Trees. Accomplishments include 2014 Smithsonian Safety Person of the Year, 2021 Institute of Applied Agriculture Early Career Award, 2019 Roadside Tree Care Expert. She is also pursuing a Masters degree in Extension Education at the University of Maryland to further the reach of the educational mission of the Arboretum.
The University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanical Garden is home to over 17,000 trees and woody plants. Properly caring for the collection is no small task, and requires consistent expert care year round. There are currently five certified arborists on staff and now two Board Certified Master Arborist, as campus arborist Richard Jones received his BCMA certification in 2018. Here at the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, we take immense pride in our colleagues that work so hard to make the campus the esteemed botanical collection it is today. Congratulations to Meg for this elite achievement.