Ed Gilman strengthened more than just trees.
After 30 years researching and teaching arboriculture (the cultivation of trees) for the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Gilman improved relations between different professionals in the industry, boosted research funding and increased the usefulness of research findings. For these reasons, Gilman said he is content with entering retirement June 24.
“When I retire, I feel very comfortable that they don’t need me anymore,” he said. “We’ve developed a process and a culture in the industry that this will carry on by itself without me.”
Gilman started his career at UF in 1986. He has since taught classes related to plant identification and arboriculture and also made strides in the arboriculture industry through his research and instruction.
He said Florida’s 2004 hurricane season inspired him to study how people could prevent trees from falling in high winds.
“There were six or seven hurricanes that year that ripped through Florida in all different directions, with tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of trees on the ground,” Gilman said. “We wanted to know why those trees fell over.”
He joined a team to research how trees could be planted, raised and pruned differently to reduce risk during severe weather.
In a partnership with the Florida Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, Gilman helped create a “TreesAreCool” license plate that continues to raise money for a research endowment at UF, Gilman said.
The license plate raised at least $380,000, according to a June 3 press release.
Gilman said his curiosity and ensuing achievements all started at the age of 7 with a few outings in his own neighborhood.
“I saw a couple of trees planted in front of our house, and I thought that was pretty cool because I didn’t even know people planted trees,” Gilman said. “I thought ‘Hey that’s neat, that would be cool to study someday.’”
Andrew Koeser, a UF assistant professor of landscape management, said Gilman’s innovation and work ethic is impressive.
“Ed was probably the most productive person in our field,” Koeser said. “He’s very passionate and very curious. Whoever replaces him has really big shoes to fill.”
Once retired, Gilman plans to enjoy his time working with stained glass, consulting and extending his work with trees even further.
“I’ve worked with living trees for so many years, so now I’m going to be working with dead trees – woodworking,” he said.
