September/October 2017 | The Davey Bulletin 11
Graeme McMahon, tree-climbing legend
from Australia, presenting at RAW.
NOTES
FIELD
The speakers at the 2017 Rochester
Arborist Workshop (RAW) focused on
the practice and theory of working in
compromised trees and encouraged
the over 320 attendees, including
40 employees from Davey's four
Minnesota R/C offices, to constantly
perfect their skills.
RAW featured speakers Graeme
McMahon, tree-climbing legend
from Australia, and Dr. Kevin T. Smith,
a U.S. Forest Service scientist who
studied under Dr. Alex Shigo, a plant
pathologist and longtime scientist
for the U.S.F.S. who helped pioneer
modern pruning methods.
McMahon presented about his work
to inspect extremely large trees to
COMPROMISED TREES FOCUS OF 2017 ROCHESTER ARBORIST WORKSHOP
make sure they were not compromised
as a safety precaution for crews, said
Ryan Brick, district manager, Maier
Tree & Lawn, a Davey company.
"For me, I am a little bit more of a
tree nerd and I gravitate more toward
the science side of things at RAW,"
Brick said. "It just reminds me of how
impressive trees really are and they
are these incredible plants that can
do so many things."
Smith discussed relating the material
he and Shigo found in relation to
emerald ash borer infested trees and
the strength and loss component, Brick
said. Smith talked about how to safely
work in those trees to serve clients.
Brick said RAW has been an outreach
program that attracts arborists from
all over Minnesota, Southwestern
Wisconsin and Northeastern Iowa.
When RAW started, the goal was
to raise the bar for all people in the
arboriculture industry in terms of the
quality of the science they were using.
Brick said when people come to RAW
for the first time you can see the
wheels turning in their heads about
best practices. Attendees take away
a lot from the event.
"The excitement the presenters
generate seems to feed into people
who have been around awhile and they
get excited based off that energy,"
Brick said. "It is a neat atmosphere
to be in."
Forty employees from Davey's four Minnesota R/C offices attended RAW, the Minnesota
Society of Arboriculture's largest educational event.
S&S Tree and Horticultural Specialists, a Davey
company, was the highest bidder on a Graeme
McMahon poster, with all proceeds going to
the Minnesota Society of Arboriculture.
