6
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
March/April 2020
LEADERSHIP
IMPROVING, LEARNING AND GROWING AT D.I.T.S.
For some of the 53 students who attended this year's Davey
Institute of Tree Sciences (D.I.T.S.), spending four weeks
learning, studying and training seemed like a daunting task.
"It's a lot of information. They throw the entire book at you,"
said Ryan Foytik, foreman, South Chicago office. He, like
others, quickly took up the task of preparing themselves
for an enriching experience with one goal in mind: growth.
"I knew I wanted to better my skills and advance in the
company as a leader."
Students attend Davey's prestigious training program for
various personal and professional reasons.
"It's a great opportunity for me and my family to better
ourselves," said Luke Jones, senior supervisor, Duke Energy
account. "Learning all of this will only help me improve
who I am on the job."
Jones, whose daily job involves maintaining line clearance
for utility clients, was most interested in learning more about
the sciences behind arboriculture, like the differences in
biotic and abiotic diseases and plant health care.
"Coming from utility services, I wasn't exposed to a lot of the
biological sides of things. I focused more on safe production,"
he said. "It's really nice to get involved with the sciences
behind the trees and furthering my own education that way."
Over the course of the month, the group of students came
together to learn topics from three general areas:
• Practical tree care: Equipment use and best practices,
safety procedures, tree risk assessments, knot
tying, advanced climbing techniques, tree planting
and transplanting
• Technical sciences: plant identification, pathology
and entomology, plant diagnostics and management,
fertilization, tree preservation, planning software,
environmental stewardship
• Management skills: Davey Personal Excellence, rules
and regulations, and leadership
With learning comes testing, often in subject areas the
students were not familiar in. Larry Little, work planner, Davey
Resource Group, said testing on climbing, rigging and ropes
was tough, as he doesn't climb on a regular basis. But now,
after a month of training, he feels more confident in multiple
areas he wasn't before.
"For me, the management courses at D.I.T.S. provided
knowledge that will help me better manage the crews I
oversee each day," Little said. "And, along with learning more
about the biology and structure of trees, I can take those skills
and help crews identify which trees are unsafe to climb. Over-
Top left: D.I.T.S. students take part in a tree inventory exercise at the
Davey East Campus.
Top right: Students study for the leaf identification exam in the Davey
Institute diagnostic laboratory.
