The Arkansas Urban Forestry Council recently honored Lynne Thompson, professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Thompson, a retired professor from the UAM School of Forestry and Natural Resources, received the Outstanding Volunteer Award from Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Joe Fox, state forester for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, at a ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion at Little Rock.
Hutchinson read an Arbor Day Proclamation before presenting the award. Following the ceremony, Thompson, Fox and Danielle Shasteen, AUFC president, joined Hutchinson to plant a pecan tree on the mansion grounds.
Thompson joined the UAM faculty in 1980 and served 30 years before his retirement in 2010.
He holds a bachelor of science degree from Kansas State University and a master of science degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Thompson is a current member of the Monticello Tree Board and a former member of the UAM Tree Board. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Arkansas Urban Forestry Council from 2003 to 2005.
Thompson recently donated two large oak trees to be planted on the grounds of the School of Forestry and Natural Resources and last year led a grant project to plant 22 trees around Lake Monticello to provide shade and enhance the area’s aesthetics by the picnic pavilions, playground and shoreline.
The AUFC is a non-profit organization, formed in 1990, whose role is to increase public awareness of the value of urban trees to Arkansas communities and the importance of properly managing this resource. For more information, visit www.Arkansastrees.org.