Davey Tree Flipbooks

14 | September/October 2014 E very year, students enrolled in horticultural programs all across the country come together for a three-day competition. This event, hosted by the professional landscaping association PLANET, is known as Student Career Days (SCD) and is something all horticultural students look forward to. "This is an excellent opportunity for us to recruit and find potential interns," says Mark Noark, recruiter/trainer coordinator. "We've had ongoing involvement with PLANET for the past 15 years." SCD, which was hosted at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, this year, attracted more than 750 students from 65 colleges across North America. A major portion of SCD is dedicated to the event's career fair, which is regarded as one of the most attended fairs in the industry. "I am excited to be part of such a well- respected industry organization such as PLANET," says Mark Svozil, vice president of commercial landscape services (CLS). "I look forward to developing Davey's future leaders from an overwhelming amount of talent." In addition to Svozil and Noark, the following Davey employees participated in this year's SCD: Dan Joy, now executive vice presi- dent of commercial services; Blane Pshigoda, division manager of government projects; John Wright, regional manager of the Mid-Atlantic region; Jason Bassler, regional manager of the Midwest region; and Rick Silverberg, branch manager at the Colorado Springs CLS branch. The winner of the Arboricultural Techniques competition, which was sponsored by Davey, was a team from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst that included Nicolette Eicholtz, who completed an internship with Davey in 2013. Not only does Davey set out to look for employees at SCD every year, but students also keep an eye and ear out for Davey. "We are set apart from others for a number of reasons," Noark explains. "Our employee ownership and in–house educational opportunities are huge attractions to these SCD attendees." An Introduction for Future Davey Employees Above, pictured from left to right: Gordon Ober, vice president of recruiting and development; Eduardo Medina, recruiter/trainer; Jeremy Lewis, safety specialist; Don Roppolo, recruiter/trainer; Joe Shaw, recruiter/trainer; Adam Polinski, Fort Collins R/C foreman; Brian Borkowicz, regional business developer; Paul Herb, recruiter/trainer; and Mark Noark, recruiter/trainer coordinator (front). Educating Across the Pond T he bad news? Emerald ash borer (EAB) has spread and continues to infest several regions throughout the U.S. The good news? EAB research is spreading across the globe. Anand Persad, manager of plant sciences research at the Davey Institute, traveled all the way to Alnarp, Sweden, to deliver a presentation titled, "Restoration of Urban Forests after Emerald Ash Borer: Relevance of an Urban Fit Matrix in Replant Selection" at the Urban Forestry Conference in June. Persad specifically discussed a Davey- developed Urban Fit Matrix system that rates the relative urban vigor of 18 replanted species in the U.S. and Canada. Persad worked with Cecil Konijnendijk and Oscar Rocha to conduct studies at 40 sites within the EAB distributional range in North America from 2004 through 2013. They observed several aspects of communities' responses to EAB, including ash tree removals, preservation and restoration after removals. The impact of this research? According to Persad, "The lessons learned here add to our arboricultural experience and ability to formulate better plans, thus limiting impact of future invasions in our urban forest systems." Anand Persad, manager of plant sciences research at the Davey Institute

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