Aspiring Arborist Advice!

[NewKid]

Horticulture!!!!!

What about a degree in Urban Forestry?

Forget about Wisconsin, come to good old Penn State.

Hey Husky, that's what the WI degrees are. But we're talkin central WI, 5 hours away. Relocation's really not an option. So, that leaves horti/arboriculture as the only formal training I can acquire in the field round here.

That's why I'm asking about how to go about learning on my own. I understand that 'hands on' is really the best way to learn but I want to understand as much as I possibly can before I get with a company. I'd like to be bringing more than enthusiasm and hard work to the table, you know?

Michael

 

[xander9727]

If you're going to get your training hands on.......get a degree in business......then you can make money with your knowledge.

 

[Nickrosis]

If you're going to get your training hands on.......get a degree in business......then you can make money with your knowledge.

Or do both degrees. :angel:

 

[xander9727]

While it hasn't always helped........education never hurts.

 

[Nickrosis]

What are you talking about? My pocketbook has taken a hit like no other! I could pay for my truck once a year, every year at the rate I'm spending on tuition. It'll be $30,000 over the next two years. With an income of $26,000/yr after taxes, I'm squeaking by and loading up the credit. But the result seems worth it, the means on the other hand...

 

[NeTree]

Ouch! Tuition sure has gone up since I went to college!

 

[Nickrosis]

It's doubled in the 5 years I've been in the system.

 

[NewKid]

Thanks Everybody!

Thank you for all the imput, guys (esp. Nickro - looks like some time in Cheese... um, WI may be inevitable... ).

Just let me clarify, though. Nobody thinks getting a climbing pos. will be an option without a (Arborist/Urban Forestry) degree or years(?) as a groundman? Enough necessary skills and knowledge to start as a climber can't be gained through self-study (and say, climbing-pruning classes/Arbormaster training)?

I really cannot move to another state but I could probably make it to some of the week long climbing classes that some schools offer...

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Schooling is great, but practical app is needed. One needs to train the body to do the actual work in the tree. You just cannot get the muscle memory, habits and ingrained knowledge from lab courses.

I would add gymnastics or wrestling to the training, the best tree workers I know all have something like that in their backgrounds.

Then the schooling comes in for the science part of it, and it does not ahve to be forestry either, just something that helps you order your mind. Nick-in-CA has a Lib arts degree. i know people with history and linguistic degrees, engineering and mech design....

Plant Science is a very broad feild so get a 2 year degree in something applicable, like organic chem or somehting, work with a rpeutable tree comapny and see where you want to go after that. Chicagoland has many oportunites for you.

 

[bottlefed89]

Newkid - I wouldn't say it would be impossible for you to get a job as a climber right off, but I don't know why you'd want that without much experience. If you can't climb well yet, and remember skill comes with experience, then you will have groundies waiting on you, and an unhappy boss. You asked if getting a climbing pos. would be an option without the arb/forestry degree, but I don't really know that those get you any more points toward being a climber?? I'll stick to the advice many of us have said, find a company you want to work for that can work with your desire to climb, do your time and learn your stuff, then see where it will take you...

 

[xander9727]

True dat!

 

[jmchristopher]

I am a former TCOT Arborist, and I can tell you that if you went to them with a fire in your belly to learn climbing, they would accomodate you as quickly as you could handle. I learned my basics with a very good one-horse company, and took 2 years before I ever put on a saddle, and was amazed at how quickly TCOT would get guys productive in the trees. They also will be happy to help you pay for courses once you establish yourself as reliable, healthy, etc. You might even set up a work study sort of arrangement with them. The main point is that the degree gives you some serious credibility, true, but if you can't afford to go for it right away, hard work and enthusiasm will earn you a heck of a lot too.