This is a panel of which includes: Andy Olsen and
Bill Conn
has
been in the tree care industry for the past eighteen years. He has been employed with VELCO for the past
7 years. He is a Certified Arborist,
Certified Tree Worker, Certified Utility Specialist, and Certified Tree Care
Safety Professional. He has done
numerous trainings on certified line clearance tree trimming, aerial rescue,
aerial lift operation, chain saw safety.
He has served on the board for the New England chapter of the
International Society of Arboriculture for the past 10 years and is currently
President. He has also been involved
with the International Society of Arboriculture's international tree climbing
completion as a judge and technician. He
has given presentations on Lidar, Vegetation Inventory Programs, Line Clearance
Certification, and Using Partnerships as an Integrated Vegetation Management
Tool. He is currently on the ISA Test Committee and Chairman of the North
American Tree Climbing Championship.
Brian Flage
is a graduate of Iowa State
University with a bachelor’s degree in Forestry. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and an active
member of the UAA. Brian is the Reliability
Manager for CoServ Electric, the second-largest distribution co-op in Texas
that serves the fast growing suburbs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In addition to the vegetation-management
program, Brian oversees a team of Power Quality and Reliability experts who are
responsible for investigating various system disturbances.
Joe Osborne has been employed with the OEC Vegetation Management
Team for 27 years with the first 14 years as a crew member/Foreman and the last 13 years as the Vegetation Manager. Joe’s third term as the President of the Oklahoma Vegetation Management Association (OKVMA) will conclude this year. Joe’s has a Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Administrative Leadership from the University of Oklahoma.
Andy Olson, Forester for East Central Energy which is
located in eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. I have worked in the
arboriculture field for over 13 years, performing duties such as herbicide
applicator, equipment operator, climber, bucket operator, and ECI contract
forester to name a few. I received a
Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Forestry from the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2003, currently an ISA Certified Arborist and
Utility Specialist. I began working with
ECE as a contract forester for Environmental Consultants Inc in 2004, and was
hired by ECE as a utility forester in 2007. East Central Energy is a member owned electric cooperative which
serves members in 14 counties within east central Minnesota and northwest
Wisconsin. The service territory is
mostly rural, heavily forested, and sparsely populated. There are 5,569 miles
of overhead primary line, and 2,641 miles of primary underground. On average, there are about 7.03 members per
line mile. In the forestry services
department there are 2 foresters, 2 ECI contract foresters, and one forestry
assistant. ECE has been a Tree Line USA
Utility for the previous 10 years.
Steve Ryder
is Vegetation
Management Supervisor at Great Lakes Energy Electric Cooperative which is
located along the west side of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. GLE serves 126,000
meters and has 11,000 miles of overhead line upon which the vegetation is
managed on a 6 year cycle. GLE manages their lines using IVM Best Management
Practices.
Steve is a 1980
graduate of Michigan Technological with an Associate of Applied Sciences degree
in Forest Technology and has been with GLE since 1991. He is an ISA Certified
Arborist/Utility Arborist, a member of the Utility Arborist Association and
member/past board member of the Arborist Society of Michigan.