City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/128847
Clockwise starting from seated center: Robin Luker (private arborist), Mark Torok (State of Florida), Dave Schanck, Jason Atkinson (City of Miami Beach) and Tim Hodgins (private business owner). These arborists attended a class on ANSI A-300 standards taught by Bob Brennan at Viscaya Garden in Miami, Florida. I started a small group with a few friends to earn CEUs in a more cost-effective way: "You teach one class, I teach one class ..." etc. Three years later and it's grown into something more formal. I bring in speakers, teach a class, record and file for CEUs, do all the scheduling myself. I teach because I find that the need for education is great; local arborists need basic instruction in the ANSI standards, for example, and sometimes city employees need basic training in arboriculture. I teach because I enjoy sharing tree knowledge and doing it well. I tell other would-be teachers, "You must be willing to work late and at home, and you'll definitely be skipping the stop at the local watering hole." Is it worth it? There are many of my students and peers who have gained knowledge and CEUS from my class, and with whom I am glad to have spent time. Gathering arborists can be like herding cats—both have strong wills and bodies and are confident and self-assured. Sometimes arborists think they know everything already, so a teacher has to have sufficient excitement and enthusiasm to keep a sense of humor about egos flaring up from time to time. 28 I never thought about what I was giving up but what I was giving and what society was to gain: longer living, more healthy trees. I do give up much TV time to be in front of the computer writing and putting together presentations, communications, and readings to be well prepared. My wife complains that I do not watch enough movies with her, but she has really been very understanding. — Bob Brennan, Arborist at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, President of Brennan Consulting Inc., President of the Tropical Arborist Guild I remember seeing a study done years ago where college students were shown the 1957 BBC Spaghetti Tree Hoax as a "documentary." The film, which you can see on YouTube, demonstrates the harvesting of spaghetti pasta from trees. The students took the film as fact without question. Months later in an unrelated class they were asked on a quiz how spaghetti pasta was made. An overwhelming majority wrote it was harvested from trees. The study's author was demonstratCity Trees