Qualification And Certification Acknowledgements

TreeDimensional

I started this thread to congratulate all those who have chosen to challenge themselves to reach the pinnacle in the field of arboriculture.

The first mention should be to the owner of this site Ekka (Eric Frei). His actual qualifications are elsewhere on this forum. Congratulations Ekka whats next?

The second mention is bigshea13 (Chris Shea) who informed me yesterday that not only he, but also his brother Daryl have both passed the ISA Certified Arborist exam. I guess I have to take back a lot of what I said about utility arborists. Way to go guys!

Please feel free to acknowledge all those who have met some milestone in their career or area of expertize.

BTW It really pisses me off that the words "Arborist" and "Arboriculture" always come up as mispelled in spell check. Lets see if we can do something to make that issue go away.

treevet

Congrats Chris and your brother. Already new about Eric. Keep learning everybody. Come on here and tell us what you know.

JohN Dee

Me and my Dad just finished our certifcate III in Arboriculture. We're now level 3 Arborists and officially under the AQF on paper are Tradesmen within the tree industry. We got several distinctions and credits for our units covered. Just waiting for the transcript in the mail and march next year is the award ceremony when we get our cert III.

Cert IV is on the horizon end of jan I start that... Not sure of dads direction, but I'm sure he'll be following me in this post and will let it be made known of his intentions.

Congrats to everyone else that has accomplished academic Arboriculture milestones.

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We are what we repeatedly do... Excellence then, is not an act, but HABIT...

Red : Green : Blue

TreeDimensional

Congrats John and Jay, I guess you CAN teach an old dog NEW tricks, EH?

treevet

Way to go JohNDee and JayD. The more you learn the pieces begin to fall together. My wife is always asking me why are you reading all the time, or Don't you know it all by now? What a joke.....the more you learn the more you find just how much you do not know. It is boggling. I read pretty much on and off all day long. It just seems like there isn't enough time to get enough knowledge and then, hey, it is the end of the ride. It is a great ride tho.

TreeDimensional

I screwed up, I am old and I guess the memory is going. I apologies to the second Mr. Shea, his name is Derrick. Sorry!

On another note, treevet makes a good point. A workshop, seminar or even buying a new book can break the monotony of the industry. Learning keeps us from becoming complacent and bored in our day-to-day work. Both boredom and complacency can lead to accidents, which could be prevented.

I feel sorry for the arborists that are stuck in a rut, I couldn't imagine just doing removals ALL the time. A challenge is what keeps us old dawgs getting out of bed every day. Well the need to buy groceries and other essentials of life has something to do with it too!

RC1

I passed the RFS cert Arb some years ago so to back up my practical skills with some theory. The course took a year (1 day a week + home study). It was a real drag but I'm glad to at least have it under my belt now.

Also, here we have mandatory chainsaw and climbing certs etc.....Its an expensive PITA to be honest.....and infuriating when I here of independant trainer/assesors trying to push for mandatory re-taking of assesments every few years, in an attempt line their own pockets I suspect.

I wouldn't mind so much, but I wouldn't even trust many of these 'assessors' to fill up my saw let alone pass judgement on who should be certified to work trees. Needles to say, I have all my certs, but it takes alot more than afew papers to get my attention.

Sorry Brent, didn't mean to lower the tone of a positive thread, just ignore me

TreeDimensional

No problem RC1, as a matter of fact I believe questioning the regulators is how the industry can grow. If we just keep humping along in the same old way, it all just seems to get stale. New blood, asking New questions is what keeps the industry honest.

I have found myself questioning the things the ISA has been (or not) doing. I was even a proctor for the certification exams. I was pivy to some great questions and opinions that where out of my control, but rest assured, they ALL got passed olong to the people in Authority.

Eric Frei

... it can be an arduous road getting certs.

I'm with RC1, the retaking to me is BS, like I've said before we dont have to retake our drivers licences, boat, EWP etc.

I know the D's are chuffed getting their certs. They did it through TAFE and the group environment can be a big help with others in the same boat. Sometimes doing it alone, correspondence or studying to sit an exam somewhere can require a little more discipline.

I can say though once you get them it does feel great.

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TreeDimensional

Yes there is a problem being motivated to keep on learning, and when the closest schools,workshop or seminars are hundreds of miles away, that adds to the frustration!

I believe that the Schools of arboriculture offer much the same type of educational experience as say High school. The courses are developed to meet the needs of the general population. If One wants to excel, they have to look deeper into the specifics of the different areas of the issue! Like PHC may be studied for a week or two, and teaches the basics of what to look for. If the students is going to be dealing with a lot of PHC jobs, they are probably going to have to research a LOT on their own time.

I don't think I have ever finished a job where I DIDN'T learn something. All you have to be is observant, and keep mental notes as to what was different about this particular issue.

In case the rest of the members didn't know, I wrote my ISA certification exam in 2004, and passed on the first attempt. If my memory severes me correct, the pass rate (average number of people who pass at any particular sitting) is around 50% when I wrote. I was a proctor for the last 3 years, and decided I had given enough of my volunteer time.

I have often been critical of the lack of available training, and the only thing I can think of when some arborist asks my opinion of an issue is "what if I haven't answered correctly and someone ends up injured". I will point my finger at my neighbours to the south, and their legal system. it appears to me that down in the USA no one is responsible for their actions and blame others, through the court system.

treevet

That is a pretty ignorant generalization and assumption. There is massive amounts of training available in my country if you just seek it out. More than anywhere else in the world IMO.

If you choose not to seek it out then the court system (and rightly so) will decide just where the blame falls and who is responsible for their mis actions when there is loss or injury.

newguy18

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old schooler

kiwi_tree_steve

Ive just about completed my level 4 Certs through WINTEC in NZ......... in total it is 2 years full time study, and i have a level 4 cert in Horticulture and a Level 4 cert in Arboriculture. (it's required to have level 4 cert in Hort to attend the Arb course)

im real proud of this achievement and wouldn't give up my Qualls for anything, previous posts have alluded to the need to study extra if your wanting to Specialize in any particular aspect of our industry, i couldnt agree more with this, i have done extra courses on Riggigg, cranes and helicopter work.......as this intrests me.

i feel that to keep my education in a usable state constant learning and reaching for a better knowledge is imperative!!

steve

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"You have to feel and touch a tree" Shigo

Eric Frei

Crane and helicopter training ... now that's some serious specialty. There'd be a global market for that frankly, I can see people all over the world coming for it.

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treeseer

Thanks for contributing what you did; too bad it was not fulfilling enough to continue--maybe some other activity?

I'm a Certified Tree Worker and darned proud of that!

treefeller

Thught id mention that ive got my isa cert exam in spring

newguy18

Congrats,i'm plannign on going for mine,just need to wait another year.

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old schooler

jim1nz

Well done to all those who have challenged themselves to become a qualified arborist. It is in you best interests and will most certianly provide you with the best opportunits available throughout your career.

I have a level 6 Dip Arb from WINTEC
I am Euopean Treeworker and transfered it to ISA arborist equivalent also.

Tree climbing competitions are one of the best ways to net work, develop skills and learn new techniques for practical tree climbing.

Friends and myself are putting together some of the best advanced tree climbing techniques for everyday work situations so we can run workshops teaching these techniques. It should be fun.

Cheers James

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SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

JohN Dee

Good stuff there Jim!

I know alot of people only get their papers to have their papers, but people, especially aussie tree workers, don't fall back into the everyday slump of cutting corners with safety in tree work once you've passed your tests. Yes I know that we get taught to operate at 99.9% safety all the time and in the real world you can't operate productively like that, but you can do your darn well best to keep it above 80% of the time.

Oh yeah - Got my transcript today, Certificate III with Distinction (highest you can get).

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We are what we repeatedly do... Excellence then, is not an act, but HABIT...

Red : Green : Blue

Eric Frei

Bloody hell, you wouldn't believe what arrived in the mail today!

I got my Google Certified SEO Expert certificate today.

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Jeff Darby

Congratulations..The Legend grows...LOL.

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Member: Australian Tree Association

Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard !

Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others

© Jeffrey J Darby 2011

Eric Frei

Thanks.

Did you know Google made over 400 Algorithm changes last year?

In fact, some of the ideas I suggested to them regarding duplicate content, URL Keyword Spamming, Multiple URL's with same owner pointing links to one site really impressed them.

There's scumbags out there trying any BS technique to get to number 1 ... but the fact of reality is EVERYBODY IS WATCHING, including Google.

Anyway, the moral of the story is simple, if you want to have a #1 site in Google then you need to be a #1 player, not a cheat, not a conman, not a spammer nor a copier.

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treefeller

congrats ekka

treevet

Congrats to you John Dee, keep up the great work.

jim1nz

Yea good on you too mate.

Cutting corners is never more productive, especially not in the long run. Firstly i believe if your taught correctly and develop good habits, they stick with you and will serve you well throughout your career. Productivity is about developing, repetition of and fine tuning your skills. This gives you the professional and productive edge on your competition.

I see far too many guys stuck in the same rut, after a year or two climbing they never get any better for the rest of their career. If ya get the technique right to start with there is room for improvement.

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SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

TreeDimensional

Congratulations too all who have taken the challenge, good luck to all who will in the future!

Secord-OUT

JohN Dee

Signed up for Cert IV today down at Ryde TAFE.

__________________
We are what we repeatedly do... Excellence then, is not an act, but HABIT...

Red : Green : Blue

arborjockey

Oh yeah hey great good job on all those isa graduates. I know its a gruuuuuling process. keep your head to the grindstone. Studying all nite working all day for years..... and years....just to fail that test AGAIN..jeeez well at least they only charge $250 nonrefundable, to take the test. Maybe next year huh. Hey EKKA did you ever pass that yet? us dumb climbers dont sell jobs so we just hit the safety courses that are full of tatoo necked, x-cons that work at assplunge. They speed the seminars up by jumping to the tough ?'s like KICKING brush into the chipper


My school, find the smartest arborist iin the area and go work for him. Then read read read. and read some more