“…The field of forest pathology is not new: it has developed over 130 years, stimulated by the severe impact of nonnative, pathogen-caused epidemics during the first half of the twentieth century and with the purpose of preventing or controlling such events in the future (Boyce, 1961). Since the early 1980s, forest pathology positions in academia and the federal government in North America have undergone a steep decline, despite the significant increase in emerging pest issues (Martyn, 2009;Santini et al, 2013;Bonello et al, 2020b). Lack of trained personnel has occurred in tandem with reductions in organizationally visible forest pathology programs across forestry and plant pathology departments throughout the U.S. and Canada.…”