Davey Tree Flipbooks

10 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | March/April 2019 IMPROVEMENT D.I.T.S. CLASS GAINS KNOWLEDGE FOR CLIENTS, COLLEAGUES Students who come to the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences (D.I.T.S.) have their own expectations and individual goals for their time during this prestigious training program. But one goal that binds them all together is their drive for personal and professional improvement. For Julius Uehlein, general foreman, PG&E North Bay account, being at D.I.T.S. has broadened his Plant Health Care knowledge, which he intends to keep building upon in the future and carry with him into the field. "It's inspired me to not just take D.I.T.S. and go back to work, but to continue to improve my knowledge in Plant Health Care and trees in general," Uehlein said. "Now in the field, if I see a crew with their bucket parked on buttress roots, I'm going to say, 'hey, maybe pull the truck up 5 feet so we can avoid smashing those roots.'" As a tree professional, people, including the utility clients, often ask him questions about trees, tree health and species identification, Uehlein said. "Being able to give them an answer right away, or even providing a partial answer, makes us look good and shows we know what we are talking about," Uehlein said. "If I have a question, I can make a phone call and get an answer very quickly, which is big." Being in a sales position, Kevin Martin, sales and service coordinator, North Austin R/C office, said the plant pathology section of D.I.T.S. was the most impactful for him. "Learning the pathology and the diseases is very important to know, especially if you are going to go into a sales role," Martin said. "If you don't know that information, how helpful can you actually be?" Being at D.I.T.S. has made Martin start thinking about ways to help his office. "Knowing the steps to properly inspect a property, that is something that they touch on, and really paying attention to everything," Martin said. "I would like to be a little more hands-on with our crews and to show them more to look for on a job site." Other students saw D.I.T.S. as an opportunity to equip them with the knowledge to better serve as leaders in management positions. Isabeau Ruiz-Bertrand, district manager of the Muskoka R/C office in Ontario, wanted to come to D.I.T.S. to help improve her skills as a manager. Above: Zachary Gring and Osmar Mejia try out the new Olympus SZ61 microscope for the Plant Diagnostic Laboratory at the Davey Institute. It's a lab tool used in diagnosis and research as well as in education and training. This can be used for training and teaching any size class from small groups in the lab with a monitor to large groups with a projector display. With the new microscope, the laboratory staff can take microscopic photographs and videos to use in a live classroom setting or in presentations.

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