RIOC Groundskeeping Staff Maintaining Roosevelt Island Fields With Support and Training From Cornell University Cooperative Extension NYC Urban Environment Program Today

RIOC Groundskeepers With Cornell Coop NYC Urban Environment Program At Firefighters Field

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) groundskeeping staff continued their training with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC Urban Environment Program maintaining and supporting Roosevelt Island's horticulture by pruning branches this afternoon at Firefighters Field. As RIOC President Leslie Torres reported last October:

... our grounds and maintenance staff worked with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC Urban Environment Program to complete their second year of landscape horticultural training. The workshops included lessons on botany, plant and weed identification, soil and plant nutrition, turf management, and tree and shrub planting and pruning techniques.

Several members of our staff told me how much they enjoyed the training, and they’re looking forward to another season of Island beautification and maintenance.....

The Cornell Chronicle Online provided some more information last October on the Roosevelt Island Urban Environment program which:

... recently completed its second year of landscape horticultural training program with the RIOC grounds crew. These professional development sessions have included classroom and lab instruction on such topics as introduction to botany, plant and weed identification, soil and plant nutrition, and planting and maintenance of trees and shrubs.

"Prior to Cornell's involvement, many of our staff had limited training in horticulture, so this enabled them to do their jobs more effectively," said Michael Smith, RIOC parks and recreation manager. "We are very pleased with their new skills and the improvements we've seen."

This year, RIOC requested more specialized training, such as turf management -- assessment of soil conditions, diagnosis of turf diseases and insects -- and pruning of ornamental trees and shrubs. The instruction was given by extension educators via eight, four-hour guided, hands-on workshops during the period November 2010 to August 2011 that addressed real-life landscape needs; the instructors also provided onsite technical assistance....

Click here for the entire Cornell Chronicle article and here for more information on Cornell University's Urban Environment Program.

RIOC Groundskeepers With Cornell Coop  NYC Urban Environment Program At Firefighters Field