That expertise led to her being named Outstanding Master Gardener Volunteer — West Region and then Ohio’s 2013 Outstanding Master Gardener Volunteer, an honor presented during the recent 2013 Ohio Master Gardener Conference.
The awards recognize her volunteer work educating the public about the tree destruction caused by the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and the Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALB).
“I am also very, very pleased and honored to be chosen as the Ohio Master Gardener Volunteer of the Year,” she said, acknowledging the help she received from the Greene County extension office, other Master Gardeners and Barb Mills, director of the Greene County Master Gardener program.
“No question, my work could not have succeeded without their involvement.”
That work involves keeping current on research and informing the public about the insects and what can be done to protect trees.
When the EAB was first found in Ohio in 2003, there were about 6 billion ash trees in the state. Many of those trees have since been killed. The insect can be found in 72 of Ohio’s 88 counties and in 22 states.
The awards also recognize the 3,800 hours Reiff has volunteered with the GCMGV program in the past decade, a record for the local program.
The Michigan native earned her MBA from Wright State University in 1981 and spent 17 years as an account executive at AT&T, working with such entities as Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, NASA and the U. S. General Services Administration. A highlight of her career was being responsible for communications during the Bosnian Peace Talks.
“I retired in 1999 and in 2002 was looking for an opportunity to learn,” she said. She saw an advertisement for an upcoming Master Gardener class and applied.
In 2002, Reiff took an extension course, Insect Specialist Training. The extension’s entomologist, Dan Herms, asked for a volunteer to help Ohio State University Extension deal with the recently discovered EAB problem.
Reiff volunteered, eventually becoming a certified Insect, Tree and EAB specialist. She has added to her expertise the Asian Long Horn Beetle, which attacks a variety of trees, and Thousand Cankers disease, which is attacking walnut trees.
She served on Ohio State University’s “Why Trees Matter” committee and helped start the Xenia Tree Committee while gaining the respect of university professors and government officials with her aggressive public education.
Expert arborists and tree service professionals, city planners, community leaders, other MGV members and homeowners now better understand EAB and treatment alternatives because of her work.
In 2011, under Reiff’s guidance, the GCMGV program received third place at the International Master Gardeners Conference with its “Master Gardeners Meet the Emerald Ash Borer Challenge.”
More information is available through the Greene County OSU Extension office at (937) 372-2676.
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