The Davey Tree Expert Co. has announced that one of the largest classes in recent years has completed the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences (DITS).
This year, 47 Davey employees attended the month-long flagship training program, which has been an annual tradition for more than a century. It includes classroom and field exercises in climbing and safety procedures, tree and plant care, disease and pest diagnosis, management practices and team building.
This year’s class included sessions on how to spot invasive species such as the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) and emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis). Students also learned how to preserve trees during construction and heard management presentations from their respective service lines.
DITS is only one of many training programs the company offers, according to R.J. Laverne, Davey’s manager of education and training. “We value and understand the importance of continuing education,” he said. “Davey provides our employees with a plethora of education programs, such as our associate’s degree program and online extension coursework within the green industry. DITS takes a hands-on, practical approach to prepare students for technical, business-driven and team-related opportunities.”
Attendees were from Davey operations across North America and had to be nominated by their field managers and approved by corporate management to be admitted into the training program. This year’s participants included Armand Banks, Carl Banks Jr., Jason Barthelmes, Sarah Belcher, Carol Bradford-Roe, Bob Brinker, Nick Broughton, Cory Campbell, Colin Celaya, Garland Cisneros, Alanna Claffey, Travis Davis, Michael Dye, Brian Edwards, Jarod Emerson, Brendan Epp, Andy Furneaux, Michael Glazier, Michael Hale, Paul Herb, Seth Huber, Jesse Imbeault, Alan Joiner, Joe Langseth, Jacob LeBarre, Scott Lieber, Tim Lotz, David MacInnis, Mark Mann, Taylor Maslowski, Aaron Mayhew, Steve McCarthy, Ryan McKenna, David Nadolski, Darwin Phillips, Treven Pratt, Robert Raymond, Sean Rock, Ryan Sherman, Barry Sherwood, Brandon Snyder, Matthew Stobbart, Kyle Stolarick, Matt Throngard, Auxilio Tovar, Collin Whitmire and Anthony Wright.
Nick Broughton, a plant health care coordinator at Davey’s Barrington, Ill., office, received the Golden Oak Award, which is given to the student who achieves the highest academic performance in the class.
