On any given day, SUNY Morrisville professor Brendan Kelly and his environmental students can be seen trekking to the college’s forests or in other areas of the community to conduct field work.
Donned in hard hats, sturdy boots and neon attire, they brave most any elements for the hands-on experience his labs are known for. Esteemed by his students for his approach to teaching, his efforts go far beyond the classroom and labs.
It’s among the reasons why Kelly, associate professor of forestry & renewable resources, received the Forestry Communications & Education Award from the New York State Society of American Foresters (NYSAF).
The award recognizes outstanding efforts to promote understanding and appreciation of forest resources, management and stewardship through communications and education.
Nominated by his own students, Kelly, a Rome native and Clinton resident, was presented with the honor during the annual NYSAF awards program and again during an on-campus Conservation Tri-Society (CTS) club meeting, an organization he co-advises.
Humbled and surprised by the award, Kelly, a 1993 graduate of the college’s natural resources conservation program, extended his thanks to students and coworkers, also acknowledging his family.
“I really appreciate being with all of you,” he said as he addressed students and peers during the meeting. “It is a joy to teach.”
“He is an overall great professor who has great knowledge and expertise, which translates to the classroom, so we are able to learn more,” said Dakota Gatton, an environmental & natural resources management bachelor’s degree student from Savona, near Geneva.
Various topics in Kelly’s class, as well as field trips and field work, are playing a vital role in preparing Gatton for a career as a waterfowl technician or to work with wetlands.
“We took a wetlands class with Professor Kelly and actually practiced — went to wetlands to analyze and get on-the-ground experience,” Gatton said.
Similar sentiment was shared by Mason Hollenbeck, an environmental & natural resources management bachelor’s degree student from Boonville. Uncertain of what he wants to do, Kelly has played a mentoring role, guiding him along the way.
“I really like how you take your experience and translate it to a classroom setting,” he said to Kelly.
That expertise is visible in the classroom, where Kelly teaches courses in forestry and riparian ecology and wetland management. He is also involved extensively in the management of the college’s forests and natural resource areas.
Kelly credits his success to his wife and family and an entire campus and coworkers, along with his students, who have taught him valuable lessons along the way.
“They have taught me patience,” he said. “Not all students learn the same. I have learned to adapt and that a hands-on approach really helps them understand the lessons when they apply them in the field.”
Kelly and his students’ work go beyond the SUNY Morrisville campus.
Last year, CTS club members performed important service activities at Camp Kingsley for the Leatherstocking Council’s scouting programs, evaluating an area for invasive plant removal, refloating a dock that had been pinned by a beaver-felled tree and laying out new trail and conducting trail maintenance.
Kelly has a deep appreciation for and understanding of forest resources, management and stewardship from his extensive experience in the forestry field. Prior to coming to SUNY Morrisville, he was a Senior Forester with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in Lowville, where he primarily handled regional forest products marketing and utilization concerns in Herkimer, Jefferson. Lewis, Oneida and Saint Lawrence Counties, assisted with the administration of private landholder assistance programs in Jefferson and Lewis Counties and led recreation planning for easements lands in the Tug Hill region.
While a forester with the DEC, Kelly was also occasionally called upon to participate in search and rescue operations, wildfire fighting efforts, wildlife relocations and Chronic Wasting Disease response.
He was a riparian forester and program manager for the former Rome-based New York Rivers United, a nonprofit river conservation organization created to promote an effective river management strategy statewide. Additionally, he worked as a forestry aide/technician and an environmental engineering aide at the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome and was the woodlands and natural areas manager at the University of New Hampshire. He also served as the chair of the Iroquois Chapter of the NYSAF executive committee.
His community work includes previously serving on the board of the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and the board of advisors for the Center for Northern Woodlands Education, publishers of Northern Woodlands magazine. He has served as a member of Lewis County Search and Rescue and was a volunteer fire fighter. He is also an Eagle Scout and volunteer with the Leatherstocking Council of Scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, headquartered in Utica.
In addition to earning an associate degree from SUNY Morrisville, Kelly has a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York, College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (ESF) and a master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. Kelly holds a Firefighter I – NFPA 1001 Certificate and is a Society of American Foresters - Certified Forester.
