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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
March/April 2024
Fifty-three students came together for Davey's month-long
annual flagship training session, Davey Institute of Tree
Sciences (D.I.T.S.), held at the Davey Institute. The attendees
were chosen based on their leadership performance in their
respective roles.
Isabelle Christmann, sales arborist, Portland, Oregon office,
Residential/Commercial services, has taken on a leadership
role at her home office by training new employees and
getting them up to speed on the daily roles of the shop.
"I wanted to come to D.I.T.S. to further my knowledge and
to learn how to become a backbone of support to my team,"
Christmann said.
Christmann liked learning about Davey's four service lines.
"I started with Davey in 2020 as an intern. My degree is in
forestry, and what's great about D.I.T.S. is, it takes heavy,
scientific-based material and presents it in a friendly way
that is easier to grasp. Everything starts to click."
Christopher Locke, crew leader, NorthWestern Energy –
Montana account, Davey Tree Surgery Company, enjoyed
D.I.T.S. overall, and felt the Factors and Forces training
sessions provided the most useful information for his
D.I.T.S. BRINGS FUTURE LEADERS OF DAVEY TOGETHER
day-to-day job. "Knowing how to properly complete a tree
risk assessment to determine how healthy the trees are
before we climb them is an important step for the safety
of our team," Locke said.
Mackenzie Fjetland, production manager, Minneapolis
territory, Commercial Landscape Services, said he's gained
not only the knowledge from the D.I.T.S. training sessions
to take back and share with his teams at home, but also,
the networking connections.
"Each time I visit Kent, I learn a little more about the
company. D.I.T.S. gave me a better understanding of
Davey as a whole, which is very valuable," Fjetland said.
Austin McEwan, sales arborist, Kitchener Residential office,
Davey Tree Expert Co. of Canada, Limited, said of D.I.T.S.
and Davey, that if you put your hand up and show interest,
you will most likely get a shot at trying it.
"Davey is willing to work with you and give you a bit more
and more so you can continue to develop your career,"
McEwan said. "D.I.T.S. is a cool opportunity. I can't say
enough about it. It's an outstanding program."
LEADERSHIP
Ethan Garber, landscape crew leader, Columbus
East-Westerville territory, and his father,
Jason Garber, landscape crew leader, Davey
Nursery, attended D.I.T.S. together. "Learning the
science behind what I am doing each day makes
my job easier," Ethan said. Jason added, "I enjoyed
meeting new Davey people from all over North
America, and the leadership and team-building
exercises at D.I.T.S."
FATHER AND SON ATTEND TOGETHER
Chris Fields-Johnson, tree conservation specialist, Davey
Institute, (left) teaches a D.I.T.S. student how to loosen soil
compaction around a tree using an air tool.
