Athens, Ga. – Dr. Kim Coder, professor of Community Forestry and Arboriculture at UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, was selected by the Georgia Urban Forest Council, Inc. (GUFC) on Friday October 28, 2005 to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Coder is a founding member of the Georgia Urban Forest Council here in the Georgia. Since the Council’s creation, Dr. Coder has served GUFC with a term as President and Education Chair.

“Dr. Kim Coder has already achieved so much for urban forestry, and the Georgia Urban Forest Council in particular, that we wanted to recognize those achievements now, even as we look forward to his further accomplishments in the years ahead,” the GUFC stated in a press release.

Renowned as an educator, lecturer and author, Dr. Coder has conducted “Basic Tree Care” workshops across the state on behalf of GUFC for the past five years. At WSFR, he teaches urban tree management and helped design the new Community Forestry Certificate program (pending final approval by the Board of Regents).

"I have been honored to serve the people of Georgia for the past decades,” Dr. Coder said about the recognition. “This award is deeply meaningful to me because it comes from fellow community forestry leaders."

It also provides opportunites to interact with forest resource leaders from the private and public sectors.

Over his professional career, Dr. Coder has served as the world president of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), president of the Southern Chapter of ISA, and the International Arboricultural Research and Education Academy. He was also recognized by the ISA receiving the highest international award for arboriculture education. In addition, he was twice appointed to the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC), representing the universities of the nation to advise the Secretary of Agriculture on community forestry issues.

A prolific, award winning author, Dr. Coder shares his knowledge with a wide range of audiences. Many of his 400+ publications can be found on the web site, www.urbanforestrysouth.org.

The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia provides four degree path programs in forestry and natural resource science and management. These include the forestry, wildlife, fisheries, and water and soil resource programs. With more than fifty faculty and 23,000 acres of teaching lands, WSFR is the oldest, and one of the most respected, forestry and natural resource education providers in the southeastern United States. The school also houses one of the largest study abroad programs in the nation to provide global learning opportunities for its students. For more information visit the WSFR website at www.uga.edu/wsfr.