Arboriculture Boot Camp

and Arborist Exam Study, Fall 2011 Instructor bios

Ellyn Shea is a Certified Arborist, Certified Tree Risk Assessor, consultant and educator with over 11 years experience in horticulture, arboriculture and education. She ran the Tree Care Program at Friends of the Urban Forest, helped develop the tree key for www.urbantreekey.org and has scripted and taught in three pruning videos, most recently for the University of California. She currently works at Tree Management Experts, a consulting firm in San Francisco. This is her third arborist study class. 9/29, Soils: Malcolm Hillan has been teaching Environmental Horticulture at City College San Francisco for the past 20 years. "I believe that our department is here first and foremost to serve students. Giving students the basic tools and contacts necessary for a start in the field of horticulture and connecting students to employers in our field are my goals. Besides his teaching responsibilities, Malcolm serves on the Urban Forestry Council for the City and County of San Francisco, consults on a variety of horticultural issues, and works as a licensed C-27 contractor. He resides in San Francisco. 10/6, Pruning: Kevin Peters, Western Operations Manager, Davey Tree Education: Southern Connecticut State University Experience: Involved in the field of Arboriculture since 1988. Part of The Care of Trees family since 1990. Certifications: International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist and Board Certified Master Arborist, TCIA Certified Tree Safety Professional Affiliations: California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA), Northern California Golf Course Superintendents Association (GCSA), Silicon Valley Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) 10/13, Biology: Merlin Schlumberger is a Certified Arborist and a Certified Tree Risk Assessor. He is the proprietor of Merlins Tree and Farm Care and specializes in fruit tree care. He graduated in Environmental Studies and Sociology at the University of California Santa Cruz, going on to restore the oldest avocado orchard in Santa Cruz County. He plants and maintains orchards and vineyards and has grown commercial oyster mushrooms. His focus is nurturing the interface between wild and tended lands by growing native plants and establishing riparian and wildlife corridors. Merlin climbs and consults to make trees safe, abundant, fruitful and beautiful. 10/13, Urban Forestry

Maria D'Agostino has worked for Friends of the Urban Forest, the San Francisco Bureau of Urban Forestry, and Public Works Services in the City of Redwood City. At FUF she honed the grassroots community organizing skills required of a non-profit planting manager. While employed by BUF, she helped contractors plant the right trees in the right place, cited miscreants for wrong removals and wrong pruning, and learned about politics with a capital P. In October of 2008, she was hired as the Urban Forestry Specialist for the City of Redwood City where all those activities were rolled into one position. Now she is back home in San Francisco, working at BUF where she is conducting tree inventories and assessments, and making recommendations for SF Housing Authority properties. In addition to working in the industry, she delights in facilitating introductions and new ways of teaching in her community. Maria loves nothing better than calling on her recreational climbing friends to join industry experts in leading women only climbing events, or wrapping a diameter tape around schoolchildrens waists and encouraging them to think about their growth rings. 10/15, Tree Identification Kori Dean got her start in arboriculture through Friends of the Urban Forest as a volunteer, intern, Citizen Forester, and tree tour guide. She completed the horticulture program at City College of San Francisco and an extended internship at the SF Botanical Garden, going on to earn a degree from SF State in Environmental Studies. A Certified Arborist since 2008, she is currently very pleased to be working as a City Gardener at SF General Hospital. 10/15, Safe Work Practices Christopher Altman graduated from Bowdoin College with a Bachelor's degree in studio art. After working as a gardener for a few years, he found his way to City College of San Francisco, where he studied horticulture. An internship at Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) in San Francisco sealed the deal. He worked with the Bay Area Arborist Cooperative and received his ISA certification, before starting his own business. Dedicated to the establishment and preservation of the urban forest, Christopher regularly volunteers for FUF, training volunteers how to care for trees. 10/20, Diagnosis and Treatment Dr. Larry Costello recently retired (1/1/11) from the University of California. For 30 years, he was an Environmental Horticulture Advisor in the San Francisco Bay Area and conducted an education and applied-research program in urban forestry and landscape horticulture. Larry received a PhD in Plant Physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a MS in Horticulture from the University of California, Davis. He is a member of the Western Chapter of ISA and received the ISA Shigo Award for Excellence in Education in 2009 and the L.C. Chadwick Award for Arboricultural Research in 2002. Notable publications include Abiotic Disorders of Landscape Plants: A Diagnostic Guide Reducing Infrastructure Damage by Tree Roots: A Compendium of Strategies Oaks in the Urban Landscape: Selection, Care, and Preservation A Guide to Estimating the Irrigation Water Needs of Landscape Plantings in California

Currently, Larry is a horticultural consultant and neophyte nurseryman.