Extension Associate Professor
Office: 320 Holdsworth Hall
Tel: +1 (413) 545-3747
E-mail: rharper
Primary interests
As Extension faculty, my position involves initiating and expanding a broad-based integrated research and extension program in support of the management of municipal forests and urban landscapes. I administer the award-winning ‘Urban Forestry Today‘ monthly webcasts, designed to meet real-time educational needs of urban forest practitioners, and I closely align programming/ outreach efforts with cooperating professional associations and agencies. I am a regular contributing author to newsletters (ISA New England Chapter Newsletter; MA DCR Citizen Forester) read by professionals and tree enthusiasts across Massachusetts and New England.
Current Integrated Research-Extension Projects
Current Associations
Courses Taught
- NRC 310 Community Forestry
- NRC 390G Plant Health Care
Refereed Journal Publications (Selected)
Harper, R.W., E.S. Huff, D.V. Bloniarz, S. DeStefano and C.R. Nicolson. 2018. Exploring the characteristics of successful volunteer-led urban forest tree committees in Massachusetts. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 34: 311-317.
Bocsi, T.J., P.S. Warren, R.W. Harper and S. DeStefano. 2018. Wildlife Habitat Management on College and University Campuses. Cities and the Environment (CATE) 11(1): 1-14.
Harper, R.W., D.V. Bloniarz, S. DeStefano, C.R. Nicolson. 2017. Urban forest management in New England: Towards a contemporary understanding of tree wardens in Massachusetts communities. Arboricultural Journal 41(3): 1-19.
Scharenbroch, B.C., D. Carter, M. Bialecki, R. Fahey, L. Scheberl, M. Catania, L.A. Roman, N.L. Bassuk, R.W. Harper, L. Werner, A. Siewert, S. Miller, L. Hutyra and S. Raciti. 2017. A rapid urban site index for assessing the quality of street tree planting sites. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 27: 279-286.
Yin, J., R.W. Harper and N.L. Bassuk. 2017. Effects of Tree Production Method and Transplanting on Root Hydraulic Conductance. Journal of Environmental Horticulture 35(2): 79-83.
Allen, K.S., R.W. Harper, A. Bayer and N.J. Brazee. 2017. Nursery production systems and their impact on urban tree survival. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 21(1): 183-191.
Green, B.L., R.W. Harper and D.A. Lass. 2015. Differing nursery production systems impact cost of planting oak species in the urban environment. Horttechnology 25(5): 651-656.
Dampier, J.E.E., R.W. Harper, L. Schwartzberg and R.H. Lemelin. 2015. A comparison of arborists’ and horticulturists’ preferences of Tsuga chinensis to T. canadensis in the urban landscape. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 41(1): 41-48.
Harper, R.W. and R.S. Cowles. 2013. Susceptibility of Chinese hemlock (Tsuga chinensis) to injury from autumn horticultural oil applications. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 39(1): 6-10.
Weston, P.A. and R.W. Harper. 2009. Potential of Tsuga spp. from North America and Asia as replacements for eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 35(1): 5-9.
Outreach Publications (Selected)
Harper, R.W. and D.V. Bloniarz. 2018. Regreening Springfield, MA – and communities nationwide – one tree at a time. Arborist News 27(1): 22-25. (February)
McElhinney, A.M., R.W. Harper and D.A. Lass 2017. Understanding the true costs of planting and growing urban trees. Arborist News 26(6): 22-28. (December)
Harper, R.W. and D.V. Bloniarz. 2017. Income, equity and the urban forest: Strengthening student understanding in Springfield, MA. Arborist News 26(3): 26-28. (June)
McElhinney, A.M., R.W. Harper and D.A. Lass 2017. Getting to the roots: Understanding the relationship of planting costs and nursery production systems. American Nurseryman 113(2): 14-19. (February)
Harper, R.W. 2016. Tree of merit. City Trees: The Journal of the Society of Municipal Arborists (Issues I-IV).
McElhinney, A.M. and R.W. Harper. 2015. Growing into agriculture. American Nurseryman 111(7): 20-21. (July)
Clapp, J.C. and R.W. Harper. 2015. The value and function of evergreen conifers as urban green infrastructure. Arborist News 24(2): 42-45. (April)
Harper R.W. and J.L. Gangloff-Kaufmann. 2014. Stinging insects in the urban landscape: Their management, your safety. Arborist News 23(5): 28-31. (October)
Harper R.W. and J.L. Gangloff-Kaufmann. 2014. Arborists and stinging insects in the urban landscape. Arborist News 23(4): 44-47. (August)
Bradley, B.A. and R.W. Harper. 2014. Can community forests keep pace with a changing climate? Arborist News 23(3): 44-47. (June)
Harper, R.W. 2013. Urban forestry on the frontier. City Trees: The Journal of the Society of Municipal Arborists 49(5):10-14.
Book Reviews
Harper, R.W. 2018. Review of Hemlock: A forest giant on the edge, By D. R. Foster. Journal of Forestry 116(1): 88-89.
Harper, R.W. 2017. Review of The illustrated encyclopedia of trees (2nd ed), by D. Moore and J.W. White. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 42(3): 83-85.
Harper, R.W. 2016. Review of Features from the past for the future, Branching Out: An integrated pest management newsletter for trees and shrubs, by D.D. O’Brien and G.W. Hudler. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 42(3): 213-214.
Harper, R.W. 2015. Review of The abc’s field guide to young and small tree pruning by A.G. Pleninger and C.J. Luley. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 41(1): 49-50.
Harper, R.W. 2014. Review of Wasp and bee management: a common-sense approach, by J.L. Gangloff-Kaufmann. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 40(1): 46-47.
Extension Associate Professor 
