WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
Updated: 01/08/2026
Schedule is subject to change.
Learn more about each presenter by clicking on their name.
Session 1
8:00 - 8:45 am
DON’T STRESS OUT! ABIOTIC AND BIOTIC FACTORS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON TREE HEALTH
Dr. David Coyle, Associate Professor, Clemson University
This talk will highlight several factors related to trees and their health. We will cover how trees work (physiologically) and common environmental and human-caused stress factors that impact both managed and landscape trees. We will talk about how and why these factors impact pest susceptibility, and what (if anything) can be done to mitigate these impacts and improve tree health on the landscape.
8:45 - 9:30 am
WIELDING THE A300 STANDARDS: THE SHIELD AND THE SWORD
James Komen, Esq., Consulting Arborist, Class One Arboriculture LLC
The ANSI A300 standards are an industry mainstay. This presentation digs into the practical applicability of the standards to everyday arboricultural practice. It focuses on pruning, risk assessment, and generally applicable standards. Learn how to limit your liability by following the mandatory requirements. Learn how to avoid liability pitfalls from insufficiency of inspections, reports, and pruning practices.
9:30 - 10:15 am
REFRESHMENT BREAK
10:15 - 11:00 am
BEYOND POINT AND SHOOT: USING PHOTOGRAPHY TO COMMUNICATE TREES
Dr. Paul Ries, Principal Consultant, Insightful Nature LLC
Many of us carry around a relatively powerful camera right in our pockets in the form of a smart phone. Photographic images are a powerful way to communicate the value and benefits of trees to other people. This presentation covers composition tips and techniques to take better photographs and use them to educate people about trees, urban forestry, and arboriculture.
11:00 - 11:30 am
TRAQ 3.0: WHAT HAS CHANGED?
Jimmy Walters, Owner, Urban Forest Advisors, LLC
While the tree risk assessment process has not changed, there have been significant changes to the program. The training course, manual and workbook have been updated and the qualification class has changed to reflect input from participant evaluations and from the instructors. The most obvious change is the new Basic Tree Risk Assessment Form. The new form will be explained and compared side by side with previous versions.
Arborists with the TRAQ qualification as well as those interested in obtaining it will find this presentation helpful.
SESSION 2
8:00 - 8:45 am
HUMAN OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE FOR SAFETY
Randall H. Miller, Director of Research and Development, Eocene Environmental Group
Our traditional approach to safety has reduced the frequency of less severe incidents, while serious injuries and fatalities rates have remained largely unchanged. This presentation will examine why. It will review the behavioral-based foundation of traditional safety, and explain it has been so ineffective. It will describe Human Operational Performance (HOP, also called Safety New or Safety Differently) and Energy-Based Safety and their promise for a more rational approach that better ensures we go home safely after work.
8:45 - 9:30 am
DESC UTILITY RIGHT-OF-WAY PRUNING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
Joel Bickley, Transmission Forester, Dominion Energy-SC
Presentation will give an overview of DESC’s transmission and distribution rights-of-way program focusing on why we prune to our established specifications and our pruning methods.
9:30 - 10:15 am
REFRESHMENT BREAK
10:15 - 11:00 am
OOPS, I SPROUTED AGAIN: EPICORMIC GROWTH AFTER PRUNING A TREE
Liz Westberg, Business Developer, Growth Solutions
Trees begin to resprout shortly after tree pruning is complete. This talk delves into the basics of the science behind the cause of rapid post-pruning regrowth, called epicormic growth, and what is actually occurring in the tree. Perhaps most importantly, we will take a look at specific control methods that can be used to minimize aggressive resprouting, including chemical options and specific pruning practices. While examples in this talk are all from utility arboriculture, these practices will aid arborists in understanding the physiology of trees, and in any structural pruning efforts.
11:00 - 11:30 am
Urban Forestry: An Essential Service to Society
Dr. Keith O’Herrin, Urban Forester, County Extension, Union County, North Carolina
Urban Forestry 2020—a decade-long research initiative—examines how the urban forestry profession can better meet society’s evolving needs. Although urban foresters and arborists possess highly specialized expertise, their professional knowledge is not always widely recognized by the public. How can the field strengthen its professional identity to ensure it continues to deliver essential services to communities? Dr. O’Herrin will explore how professional systems function and present a case study showing how urban foresters provide an essential service to society by engaging in the development process during rapid land-use change and suburban sprawl to manage urban forests.
AFTERNOON
general session
1:00 - 1:45 pm
PRUNING TO SOLVE TREE STABILITY ISSUES
Dr. Kim Coder, Emeritus Professor of Tree Biology & Health Care, University of Georgia, & Past President of ISA
1:45 - 2:30 pm
REFRAMING TREES: LEVERAGING THE LESSER-APPRECIATED BENEFITS OF URBAN TREES
Dr. Paul Ries, Principal Consultant, Insightful Nature LLC
Research showing the values and benefits of urban trees has increased exponentially in the last 30 years, allowing us to prove that urban trees are more than niceties – they are necessities. This presentation focuses on studies that illuminate the true impact of trees on our quality of life, human health, and economic well-being of our communities, and how we can leverage this information to advance our efforts.
SESSION 3
2:30 - 3:15 pm
AN EXAMINATION OF THE VALUE OF TREE RISK ASSESSMENTS IN THE WAKE OF A MAJOR HURRICANE - A LOOK AT TWO PROJECTS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
William Hascher, Arborist Operations Manager, Biltmore Estate; and Andy White, President, LandArbor Consulting, LLC
In late September of 2024, a tropical storm described by some as “apocalyptic” and “biblical” struck and devastated much of western North Carolina. Two tree risk assessment projects were being conducted when tropical storm Helene arrived. One of these projects was on the 8000 acre Biltmore Estate located in Asheville where the Arborist Operations Manager is Bill Hascher (RCA #852). The other project was in Black Mountain at the private residence of Andy White (retired RCA #510). Asheville and Black Mountain were two areas hit particularly hard by the storm.
This presentation will primarily be a first year, post-storm, cost-benefit analysis of these two studies. The analysis will be used to help determine what value the tree risk assessments were in preventing and/or minimizing storm damage at these two locations. Results from the analysis will be examined for possible ways of improving future risk assessment studies.
Note: Storm recovery efforts are still very much ongoing, and will continue for years and decades to come. This presentation will focus on the first year following the storm.
3:15 - 4:00 pm
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES WITH TREE ROOT SYSTEMS
Dr. Richard Hauer, Director of Urban Forestry at Eocene Environmental Group; Professor Emeritus of Urban Forestry, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
What do Science, Standards, and Best Management Practices say about tree planting, establishment, root management, and more to promote tree growth and longevity? This talk will further your understanding and provide strategies that arborists and urban foresters can implement to promote tree planting, establishment, and root management as part of a community-wide involvement in growing the urban forest. Learn to build an important foundation in tree care and to do something for the tree rather than to the tree.
SESSION 4
2:30 - 3:15 pm
ARBORIST HIGH ENERGY ICONS
Dan Oberlies, Asplundh
Pending
3:15 - 4:00 pm
UVM PROJECT MANAGEMENT-WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW COULD COST YOU
Dr. Robert Vanderhoof, Research & Consulting SME, Arbormetrics
Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) is a major operational expense for utilities, with North American companies spending over $10 billion annually to manage vegetation across more than 6 million miles of rights-of-way. Individual projects can cost from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, and poor planning can result in significant financial and operational risks—such as cost overruns, delays, outages, and even wildfires. Because of their scale and complexity, UVM projects require strong project management capabilities, which are often insufficiently developed through traditional industry training.
Project management provides a structured approach to planning, executing, and overseeing projects to meet defined objectives within constraints of cost, time, scope, and quality. When applied to UVM, these principles enhance efficiency, safety, and regulatory compliance while reducing the likelihood of vegetation-related incidents.
This presentation introduces the fundamentals of project management and their application in UVM. It explores how scope, quality, time, and resources interrelate to influence project success; provides examples of applying project management principles across different contracting strategies; identifies tools and best practices for managing UVM projects; and highlights how technology supports project data management, workflow coordination, and stakeholder communication—leading to improved outcomes.