Davey Tree Flipbooks

18 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | May/June 2018 MY DAVEY GIVING BACK BY TEACHING LANDSCAPE CARE SKILLS The Davey Institute created two programs in partnership with ReGreen Springfield, a tree advocacy organization, to help citizens in Springfield, Massachusetts, qualify to take the Massachusetts Landscape Professionals Certification Exam and participate in citizen science research. After receiving a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), ReGreen Springfield issued a request for proposals about creating the Tree Stewardship Training Program and Citizen Science Academy, said Mike Veney, manager, environmental programs. The Tree Stewardship program was designed by the Davey Institute to prepare the students for the exam. The citizen science program was designed to give participants the skills necessary to participate in research projects. The winning proposal was submitted by the Davey Institute, with a staff-developed curriculum. Eleven employees participated. The students involved were all people trying to learn skills that would help them gain employment, Veney said. Participants ranged from college students to those who were homeless looking for a fresh start. "It's an economically depressed area, so they are trying to do workforce development and give people skills so they can get jobs and compete in the workforce," Veney said. Some of the courses included: plant biology, plant identification, entomology, soil science, plant pathology, integrated and cultural lawn and landscape turf management and care of perennials, bulbs and annuals. The Citizen Science Academy also was created out of the HUD grant and designed to be a complementary program to the Green Skills program. Al Zelaya, research urban forester, Davey Institute, coordinated the program. "The program was designed to provide participants with practical citizen science skills," Zelaya said. "So, they could assist local university researchers, local governments and non-profit organizations working on urban natural resource challenges and projects." The hope for the program is to provide training that would be beneficial for homeowners and volunteers interested in natural resources in their community, Zelaya said. The program's other goal is to provide practical training that could help participants interested in gaining employment in the green industry or pursuing further learning. Chris Fields Johnson, technical advisor, taught soil science, Plant Health Care and integrated pest management concepts during the Tree Stewardship Training program. Fields Johnson said programs like Tree Stewardship Training are important for many reasons. The first being that the green industry is struggling to recruit and retain a good workforce. Second, the students in the program were not aware of all the opportunities the green industry has to offer. "A lot of the students I taught, they really had no idea what it was all about and all the places they could go and the things they could do with knowledge of horticulture, tree science and Plant Health Care," Fields Johnson said. Four students from the first class of the Tree Stewardship Training program passed the Massachusetts Landscape Professionals Certification Exam and are now certified, Veney said. It was fun for Chris Fields Johnson to experience a new environment and work with students who had a different level of understanding of the green industry and Plant Health Care. Working with a different type of student has helped him grow as a teacher. Chris Fields Johnson taught sessions this spring in Springfield, Massachusetts. This effort is meant to give community members new opportunities for growth and workforce development. Fields-Johnson hopes it helps some people find a new path in the green industry.

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