Doctor Mark S. McClure Research Fund

The Connecticut Tree Protective Association has joined with the TREE Fund in an effort to establish the Doctor Mark S. McClure Research Fund.  This research fund will be used to assist young researchers pursuing advanced academic degrees, whose work will be of benefit to those practicing arboriculture or urban forestry.  Once established, this research fund will be named in honor of former CTPA Board Member and Past President, Mark McClure, who was also chief scientist and administrator of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station's Valley Lab, in Windsor.

In order to establish this fund in Mark's name, the CTPA and the TREE Fund need to raise $100,000.  Once that dollar amount is reached, the research fund will exist as a named fund within the TREE Fund, for the purpose identified by CTPA.  Until that amount of money will be raised, the TREE Fund will keep donations to the fund separate, as the TREE Fund works with us to attempt to raise that amount.  (For further details, please see the Deed of Gift).

The CTPA is spearheading this effort.  To date we are about 60% of the way to our goal.  Additional donations are needed, and are encouraged.  To learn more about the Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund, the TREE Fund or Dr. McClure, please follow the links below:

The Purpose of the Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund

The TREE Fund

Mark McClure's biography

Why Donate to the Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund?

How to Donate to the Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund

Suggested Letter to Send to Tree Care Clients

A List of Contributors to the McClure Fund

The Purpose Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund

The purpose of the Dr. Mark S. McClure Research Fund is to provide funding so that candidates for advanced academic degrees can conduct research on problems or issues that are important in arboriculture and urban forestry.  Once the research fund is officially named as the Dr. Mark S. McClure Research Fund (once the $100,000 mark has been reached), the money raised will be invested by the TREE Fund and the earnings will be used in support of candidates for advanced academic degrees who are conducting research on problems or issues that are important in arboriculture and urban forestry.  It is anticipated that the amount available for use by these candidates will be on the order of $5,000 per year.  Selection of candidates and of the research to be supported will be made by the TREE Fund with input from the CTPA.

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The TREE Fund

The Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) is a a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to identifying and funding projects and programs that advance knowledge in the field of arboriculture and urban forestry to benefit people, trees and the environment. 

The TREE Fund was officially established in 2002 through the merger of the already existing International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Research Trust and the National Arborist Foundation, a program of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA, then known as the National Arborist Association).  As the mission of both organizations were similar, the Boards of each determined that joining resources and forming a separate organization would advance their joint missions much more effectively. 

Further details on the TREE Fund are available on its web site.  CTPA holds a Deed of Gift from the TREE Fund regarding the Dr. Mark S McClure Research Fund. 

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Mark McClure's Biography

Dr. Mark S. McClure, a native of Massachusetts, earned a Bachelors Degree in Biology at the University of Massachusetts, and Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Entomology at the University of Illinois, where he won the Walter V. Balduf Award of Excellence for his graduate research.  He joined the research staff of The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven in 1975, and became Chief Scientist of the Stations Valley Laboratory in Windsor in 1987.  Dr. McClure retired in 2003 after 28 years of service.

Dr. McClure is a research entomologist who specializes in the ecology and control of piercing and sucking insects on trees and shrubs. During his career at the Station, he investigated five introduced species of scale insects and adelgids which are pests of hemlock and pine, and several leafhoppers that spread X-disease of peach trees, for which he was awarded the Stations Board of Control Lectureship in 1981.

Dr. McClure conducted sabbatical leaves in China and in Japan to investigate scales and adelgids in their native habitats.  He introduced and experimented with predators and parasitic wasps that he found attacking red pine scale and hemlock woolly adelgid in Asia.  He discovered and named a previously unknown ladybird beetle, which has become the most promising candidate for biological control of hemlock woolly adelgid.  Millions of Dr. McClures beetles have been reared and released to save hemlock forests throughout the eastern United States. He is a world-renowned expert on the biology and control of this insect.

Dr. McClure has also studied the efficacy of sprayed, soil-applied, stem-injected, and stem-implanted pesticides and fertilizers on the control of insect pests in forests and ornamental landscapes.  He has published more than 130 articles in scientific and practical journals, including an integrated pest management guide for hemlock woolly adelgid, and he has co-authored two books on plant-feeding insects.  Dr. McClure has answered more than 20,000 inquiries from the public, and has been interviewed more than 1,000 times by the newspaper, radio and television media concerning his research.

Dr. McClure is a Lecturer and Research Affiliate in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University and is a member of 10 professional organizations.  He served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Tree Protective Association (CTPA) for 13 years and was its President in 1991.  Dr. McClure received The Past President Award and The Award of Merit from the CTPA, and upon his retirement, the CTPA bestowed Honorary Membership and established the Dr. Mark S. McClure Scholarship Fund.  Dr. McClures many other awards have included the Presidents Award of the New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture and The Gustave Melquist Award of the Connecticut Horticultural Society.

Mark currently lives with his wife Laura on Pawley's Island in South Carolina.

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Why Donate to the Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund?

Young scientists and graduate students often possess amazing insight, remarkable skills, and extraordinary perseverance, but lack the necessary financial support to attain their goals.  Dr. McClure would not have had an accomplished scientific career if not for timely funding at several critical stages in his life.  Mark grew up in a disadvantaged family in suburban Massachusetts, and would not have been able to attend college or graduate school without financial support.  Without funding to support his research endeavors here and abroad, he would not have been able to establish his pioneering research on the hemlock woolly adelgid and other exotic piercing and sucking insect pests that attack our natural and urban forests.

Knowledge gained from original scientific investigation is invaluable to the arboricultural industry.  Dr. McClure's findings on the ecology and control of hemlock woolly adelgid and scale insects have been directly applicable to strategies adopted by tree care professionals for saving hemlocks from these destructive pests.  It is tragic when young scientists and graduate students must compromise their research mission because of a lack of basic financial support.  Contributing to the development of a young scientific mind is good for the profession.  It is a wise investment in the future of tree care.

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How to Donate to the Doctor Mark S McClure Research Fund

Donations to the McClure Fund may be made either directly to the TREE Fund or to CTPA.  As it will be easier for CTPA to track donations and keep in contact with donors, we ask that donors contact the CTPA office about the details of donating.  If you are interested in donating or wish further details, we ask that you contact:

Rita Smith, Executive Secretary
Connecticut Tree Protective Association
P.O. Box 356
Northford, CT 06472-0356
(203) 484-2512
e-mail: strawberryrita@sbcglobal.net

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Dr. Mark and Laura McClure

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Mr. John and Marilynn Anderson
The Connecticut Urban Forest Council
Stephanie and Luke Williams
Northeast Utilities Service Company
New England Chapter - ISA

Silver Level Donors

Bronze Level Donors

All Other Donors

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