A DAVEY LEGACY BUILT ON SCIENCE
16
The Davey Bulletin | March/April 2017
Davey's Patrick Miller uses a microscope to inspect plant samples in the Davey Institute lab.
Students arrive with varying levels of experience —
some are college educated, others are International
Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborists
®
. Some
are foremen and others district managers.
Each student, regardless of experience level, faced
triumphs and challenges on their month-long journey.
"The insect courses stood out to me," Johnson said. "It's
a little more difficult because I don't know a whole lot
about insects. That's going to help me do my job better
when I get home, becoming a sales arborist, manager, or
wherever I go with my career."
For Kyle Wilson, district manager, North Muskoka,
Ontario, R/C office, Plant Health Care field expertise and
diagnosing tree diseases and infestations tested him the
most.
"That was a big part of why I was excited to come to
D.I.T.S.," Wilson said. "I wanted to get a better handle on
that kind of stuff and make me ultimately more effective
in my role as a manager."
Week two of D.I.T.S. supported Wilson's goal. General
Manager of the Davey Institute Jim Zwack's Intro to Plant
Health Care course and technical advisors Christine Balk
and Chelsi Abbott's plant diagnostics and management
lessons addressed those topics.
"I want to be successful, and I'm very driven," Wilson
said. "So, the more well-rounded I can be the better."
For many D.I.T.S. students, identifying tree and plant
problems is a difficult skill to master. That's why Debbie
Miller, the Davey Institute's plant diagnostician, tested
the students to identify the causal agents of 26 plant
samples, whether animal, cultural, disease, insect,
or environmental, and give a management solution.
Guadalupe Maldonado, general foreman, Los Padres
Utility account, earned his ISA credential before D.I.T.S.,
but he sometimes struggles with tree biology.
Miller's test challenged Maldonado and others who
don't directly deal with tree identification, diseases and
insects as part of their daily work.
MY DAVEY
Identifying tree species and diagnosing
pests and diseases are part of the course
work at D.I.T.S. From left are Eric Foley,
Alexander Sitterding and Ben Way.
The Davey Institute of Tree Sciences' (D.I.T.S.) legacy of educating generations
of Davey's finest tree care professionals spans more than a century.
This year, 51 Davey employees from all corners of North America joined
that legacy in representing the future of our historic company.
"It's very intimidating at first," said Steven Johnson, Plant Health
Care technician, North East Chicago Residential/Commercial office.
On the first day, the students arrived as strangers at 7:30 am to a
heaping, 5-inch binder filled with decades of tree care knowledge.
"It's like packing my whole bachelor's degree into four weeks," Johnson said.
