President's Perspective - Winter 2025

By Tracey Takeuchi on Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Did you read the Urban Bird Talk article in the summer 2025 issue of Western Arborist? It was all about bird nests. I hope that you will “fly along” with the idea of birds rearing their young as a metaphor for professional mentorship. Mentorship is an important but possibly an under-appreciated aspect of the arboriculture industry.  Most professionals want to pass along their hard-earned experience to others. And like birds, who invest so much time, energy, and resources in rearing their young, I believe we also want to pass on our knowledge to those younger or less experienced.

Like most arborists, I am primarily seeking CEUs while attending professional conferences. I find myself in a transition in my career that has led me to view conferences and educational seminars through a different lens from the past. I see how beneficial it is to migrate, even when migration can be disturbing, difficult, and fraught with risk. Many birds migrate seasonally. Too often people remain fixed in place (both mentally and physically) once they settle, at risk for becoming complacent in their environment and insensitive to the environmental challenges of others. Migration, for this metaphor, is attending seminars and events outside of a comfort zone.

Some birds are more social than others, flocking around in little groups as they move from tree to tree. Others are more solitary, preferring to sit at the top of a tree surveying the domain. All birds have one commonality: movement. Even if they move as a group, birds must move. Birds that sit atop high points must move, too – all are seeking suitable resources. Arborists also benefit from movement to learn, grow, and avoid complacency.  Viewing each conference, meeting, or seminar through the lens of a seeker or a mentor has a different essence.

This year I was fortunate to attend four very different industry meetings in my capacity as Western Chapter President, both as an emissary and a seeker. Each meeting had different populations of arborists, its own culture, its own “flavor.” From the view of nesting, each provided a unique habitat for both the developing and seasoned arborist – the neophyte nester and the veteran bird – both playing a role in the broader stability of the arboriculture ecosystem. A new way to view the full circle of arboriculture is through the lens of bird nesting and renewal.

Three of the four events were located in a different region of WCISA: San Diego, Arizona, and Nevada; I also attended the international conference in New Zealand. Attending these, as well as Sarah Maitland’s recent annual conference in Tucson, emphasized for me the value of diversity.

Before we teach others to build nests, we have to learn this for ourselves. Self-mentoring isn’t just attending a meeting for CEUs, it’s what draws you to a particular meeting. How does self-mentoring relate to the variety of meetings that I have attended? Maybe, like me, you typically attend specific meetings, year after year, following the same migratory pathway. I urge you to change your pathway to experience the unique vibe and character of other Western Chapter meetings.

In San Diego, the Professional Tree Care Association (PTCA) meeting and field day had a typical coastal “hang-loose with a high-five” kind of vibe. While there, I witnessed a group of co-workers and their boss participating in CPR and first aid certification training. Clearly enjoying one another’s company, they worked together as a group, but more than that, they also helped others outside of their group when someone was having difficulties. I wondered if they realized that they were mentors? This group of co-workers had built a trust relationship that transcends their support of one another in the field. They modeled support for one another in their educational efforts while still sharing friendly competition. A culture of community through their employment translated to a culture of community to the broader group. It reminded me of first responders who need to have a partner who has their back because the work is truly life-threatening. Like first responders, tree workers are also in a high-risk industry where trusting your partner improves everyone’s survival potential. Like first responders, we make better decisions and work safer when we have trust in those around us.

At this same meeting, I saw those learning basic plant identification techniques sharing their observations with others. I was reminded that information is like love: the more you share it the more everyone thrives. Sharing can also be a form of vulnerability. Being exposed and vulnerable is painful for many but in the end, when shared, it leads to advancement. When someone shared a frustration they experienced with me, after having a challenging moment at the end of the second day of the meeting, it reminded me that growth from vulnerability isn’t always comfortable. It was a risk for that person to share their moment of frustration.

I then traveled to the Arizona Community Tree Council (ACTC) meeting in Prescott, Arizona.  I was invited to their board meeting where I was met by a group of invested, friendly people that have an entirely different focus than those in San Diego had. This meeting was a planning meeting held in advance of their two-day educational conference. At the board meeting, they spoke of a “day of service” quite different from that which I have experienced with Western Chapter. The Western Chapter’s day of service typically benefits a Boy Scout camp or public park. For ACTC, the day of service provides tree care for low-income communities and individuals. Trained volunteers canvass neighborhoods to identify potential sites. ACTA members then do a more detailed outreach and site investigation, eventually choosing from neighborhood prospects who would most benefit from the tree care. I thought that this was a fantastic way to spread the word about the tree care industry’s strategic plan: quality tree care that aids in sustainable urban forests.

Before leaving for New Zealand, I traveled to Las Vegas to attend “Desert Green.” I have long enjoyed the Desert Green conference but found it difficult to attend in recent years due to my heavy teaching schedule at Cal Poly Pomona (CPP). I took great pains to ensure that students from CPP applied for the Lin Mills scholarship to attend Desert Green. This year, four Californians won that scholarship – one from UCR and three from Cal Poly! I made it a point to sit with the other professional scholarship attendees to speak to them about advancing their careers. The classes were superior and our own Board Director, John Crandell, gave a great talk on safety!

Attending the ISA conference in New Zealand put that country on my bucket list! Kia Ora! The people were fantastic! Food out of this world! And the Kiwis definitely planned their work and worked their plan to put on an amazing conference for all attendees. The event was exemplary, but (wink-wink) our chapter’s typical annual and regional events rivaled this international meeting in every way (except maybe the food!). What was interesting to me was how few birds there were. I heard few songbirds, saw only a handful of species – mostly waterbirds like ducks and gulls. The minute I returned home I realized how bird-quiet it was in New Zealand. Songbirds wake me up in the morning – either the Bewick’s wren or the mockingbird. Sometimes we have to leave our comfort zone to remember what we have at home.

This year, I hope that you take the opportunity to migrate around the chapter for your educational opportunities to ensure that we remain sensitive and open to new experiences that we can then share with our peers.

Tracey Takeuchi

WCISA 2025-26 President