Davey Tree Flipbooks

23 September/October 2022 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN WSSI HOSTS DAVEY INSTITUTE BIOLOGICAL SURVEYS TRAINING The inaugural Davey Institute Biological Surveys (D.I.B.S.) training, led by Adam Baker, technical advisor, Davey Institute, was hosted at the headquarters of Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc., a Davey company (WSSI), over three days in Gainesville, Virginia. D.I.B.S. covered methods of biodiversity sampling, insect identification, avian monitoring, and right-of-way (ROW) monitoring. Students from Davey Resource Group (DRG), Utility services, and WSSI participated in classroom training and in-field exercises. AMSTERDAM HOSTS 3RD EUROPEAN I-TREE CONFERENCE Josh Behounek, business development manager, DRG Environmental consulting, was a featured speaker at the 3rd European i-Tree Conference. He spoke about the past, present, and future of i-Tree ® . Since its inception in 2006, access to i-Tree ® has improved exponentially, going from a CD that would be physically mailed out to the user to install the software on their computer, to today's web-based platform. Behounek explained that it is much easier to get i-Tree ® into users' hands now that it is accessible by smart phone. As of the end of 2021, i-Tree ® has more than 662,000 global users in 168 countries. "i-Tree ® is being widely adopted internationally and is seen as the software and methodology of choice for quantifying the ecosystem of benefits trees provide," Behounek said. This year's European i-Tree Conference was held in Amsterdam. Josh Behounek speaks at the 3rd European i-Tree Conference. Behounek spoke at events during Amsterdam's "Week of the tree" or in Dutch, "Week van de boom". The week-long celebration focused on the importance of trees and green infrastructure and included the themes of climate change and adaptation. "The D.I.B.S. training is two-fold. The initial part is an introduction to a variety of scientifically defensible methods for sampling, mainly for arthropods, birds, and vegetation in the classroom," Baker said. "Then, we took them out to various field sites, including pollinator habitats, state forests, gas and electric ROWs, and nurseries, to put their new skills into practice." This training also provided participants with a foundation to build upon when crafting Request for Designation (RFD) proposals on the job. Pictured from left in a field with an energized ROW managed by WSSI are Jake Fleckenstein, environmental scientist, DRG Environmental Consulting services; Emily Hilburn, environmental scientist, DRG Environmental Consulting services; Mike Calfo, UVM technician, DRG Utility Vegetation Management services; Matt Wollenweber, UVM technician, DRG Utility Vegetation Management services; Theresa Wolanin, associate consultant, DRG Environmental Consulting services; and Chris Fields-Johnson, technical advisor, Davey Institute. This bumble bee is one of the pollinators the D.I.B.S. participants studied in the field.

• Cover