Orsolya (Orsi) Lazar is an urban forester, an ISA Certified Arborist and a Pennsylvania (PA) Certified Horticulturalist in Sustainable Landscapes. Her unconventional path to forestry began with a Master’s Degree in Ecology and a Master’s Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. She has over 20 years of experience in landscape design and management, project management, and education.

Orsi became the first Community Tree Specialist at Pennsylvania DCNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. She helps shape this growing program to better serve communities by building trust, identifying opportunities, and finding creative solutions to challenges. 

She works with municipalities and non-profits to increase tree benefits, manage costs and risks, and creates green spaces that suit people’s needs.

She is a member of the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association and is in the group that is working on updating the PA Certified Horticulturist study manual.

Orsi has taught gardening and tree care for diverse audiences, including workforce development programs.  Many local parks have benefited from her technical assistance and plant donations.

She created a tree inventory and installed hundreds ofbotanical signs at Merion Botanical Park as a pro bono contribution to her own community. Her “Responsible Gardening” Facebook group helps local gardeners connect and share sustainable, evidence-based practices.

When not in the garden or a park, she enjoys teaching tricks to her border collie or is on the dance floor practicing ballroom and Latin dancing.

Rick Hartlieb and his wife Jen are natives of Berks County, Pennsylvania, where their home farm is located. First-generation farmers, their story begins 25 years ago when they were both in the FFA program through the Conrad Weiser Area School District. Rick pursued a forestry program through Penn State University, where he attained an Associate of Science degree in Forest Technology at Penn State’s Mont Alto Campus. He then went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry at Penn State’s main campus.

Rick’s work started with chestnuts as a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation in 2005. In 2008, Rick started his forestry career as a Service Forester with the Department of DCNR (Conservation and Natural Resources) Bureau of Forestry covering Berks, Lancaster, Chester Counties.

For ten years from 2014-2024, Rick was the assistant manager for resource stewardship in the William Penn District. In 2024, Rick moved into the district manager role.

Rick and Jen’s farm story began in 2017, when they were looking for a farm setting to raise their family. They purchased a farm with a collection of 100-year-old chestnut trees, now called Castanea Farms. Chestnuts are their main crop.