My father, a retired research Wildlife Biologist from the Wisconsin DNR, showed and taught our family the importance of taking care of and enjoying the environment. As kids, my siblings and I had lots of early interactions with wildlife and nature. Following my father in a similar field, I earned my BS degree in Urban Forestry from UW-Stevens Point in May, 1998. While pursuing my degree I worked as a field arborist for 5 years, performing both tree pruning or removal work and Plant Health Care treatments. During 2002, I took on a sales role full time working with a wide variety of residential, commercial, municipal, and construction site clients. Since December 2012, I have been working at Wachtel Tree Science as a Diagnostician. I served on the Board of the Wisconsin Arborist Association as the Publicity Chair from 2017 to 2020. This gave me opportunities to offer volunteer time and efforts towards improving the public understanding of our profession.
My wife and I have three children. We enjoy camping, swimming, and entertaining our dog during the summer months, along with many sports activities. My personal hobbies have always included outdoor activities like camping, hunting, and fishing. During winter, I play on an adult hockey team. During summer I help coach my son’s baseball team. It is great to see the kids compete and learn team sports while getting great exercise. As our kids have gotten older, downhill skiing was added to our list of Winter activities.
I enjoy tree care as a profession and a science. It is rewarding to share my knowledge to help others understand their trees that are often loved and cherished as a part of the family. The more I’ve learned and experienced tree issues and needs, the more interesting the science of Arboriculture has become. Trees commonly outlive our existence and have many secrets to maximize their longevity. The mix of natural sciences including, pathology, entomology, soil science, and even physics are a challenge and a joy to learn daily. I strive to help you understand your tree and how trees are responding to the environment as well as how we can help the tree overcome issues to thrive as a part of your landscape.
