Davey Tree Flipbooks

4 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | September/October 2025 ASK THE CEO Pollinator plots are being used to study planting methods and herbicide impacts on insects, among other topics, in partnership with universities in Michigan and Ohio. Turfgrass research is being conducted on weed control, insect management, herbicides, and turf grass care in general. Institute staff are analyzing vegetation management around solar arrays, and at the east research plots they are studying how to ameliorate compacted soil conditions. There are many more ongoing and potential research opportunities at the SEED Campus. The impactful results of these scientific studies are transferred from the Institute to operations in several ways. This varies from direct instruction through the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences and other training programs, to plant health care clinics taught by technical advisors, management recommendations and prescriptions from the diagnostic laboratory, and communications directly to business developers. There is an element of accountability tied to all research we conduct. Part of that accountability is ensuring the money we invest in research makes our business stronger. We accomplish this by using research to provide our clients with solutions, help our operations work more effectively and efficiently, and show our peers in the industry we are a trusted leader in landscape solutions. Our holistic approach to research helps us to be, stay and flourish in business, because incorporating sound and proven scientific results into maintaining a financially healthy company ensures we will be here to help our clients care for their landscapes for hopefully another 145 years. A. Davey has a storied history of innovating products, methods and tools to serve the needs of, and solve problems for, our clients and operations teams. Today's Davey Institute is no exception to that rule, especially when it comes to research conducted by Institute staff at the Davey SEED (Science, Employee Education and Development) Campus. Our scientists at the Institute are closely aligned with our operations, at the field and leadership levels, to identify and prioritize research projects with a client focus. The Institute's technical advisor team works in the field and closely with crew members at all levels to identify emerging problems, opportunities, and innovative ideas. The technical advisors and research scientists also attend conferences and review scientific literature to stay abreast of novel scientific findings and industry developments to monitor opportunities that may apply to Davey operations and research. All of this is factored into how we prioritize research projects at the SEED Campus, so that we can directly connect our scientific efforts to the business. The mission of the Institute's research program is to support operations and clients to improve efficiency and develop new services, and priority is given to projects with strong potential to be readily integrated into our service lines to deliver tangible improvements to service quality, operational productivity, safety, or broader advancements within the green industry. There are already many research projects underway at the SEED Campus. Hundreds of trees, including 11 different species of plants, trees and shrubs, are being studied in the campus' west research plots. These species were chosen for their susceptibility to a variety of pests and diseases, so we are studying different plant health care treatments there to mitigate those negative impacts. Q. HOW DO WE SERVE OUR CLIENTS THROUGH RESEARCH? Pat Covey Davey Chairman, President and CEO

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