Citizen Pruners

Citizen Pruner volunteers help maintain street trees and shrubs in the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ulysses. Ithaca workdays are Tuesday mornings from May to October and Ulysses work sessions are monthly, generally on Thursday evenings.

Training is provided each Spring by university and local experts and covers: selecting and planting trees, urban trees, evaluating tree structure and needs, and pruning trees and shrubs. Classes are not required but encouraged for those who wish to volunteer.

Citizen Pruner Workdays start in May and run through the summer

Annual training in April and May, but join any time! For details on the four trainings, click on the links below.

If you would like to be a Citizen Pruner but have missed the training sessions, please reach out to Marissa Nolan, mn623@cornell.edu

Contact

Marissa Nolan
Horticulture Team Lead
mn623@cornell.edu
607-272-2292 x194

Last updated April 29, 2026

Volunteering

What's Required to Become a Citizen Pruner Volunteer?

STEP 1: Indicate your interest in becoming a Citizen Pruner by emailing Marissa Nolan at mn623@cornell.edu

She will send all the necessary forms and links.

STEP 2: All CCE Volunteers fill out an application and screening consent form allowing us to run a background check. Background checks are done every three years to stay active.

If you missed the Citizen Pruner series, you can get recordings to familiarize yourself with basic pruning before volunteering. Prior experience is not required.

STEP 3: Each year volunteers watch a short video on preventing and reporting sexual harassment.

Cornell Cooperative Extension

Tompkins County