James Cassidy, Research Assistant/Instructor, OSU; Marketing Director/Faculty Advisor, OSU Organic Growers Club
Introduction to Soils and Web Soil Survey Tools
James Cassidy is an instructor of Introductory Soil Science at Oregon State University and the faculty advisor and founder of the OSU Organic Growers Club - OSU's only all-volunteer, student-run farm (12 years running!). He also teaches Organic Farming and Gardening classes at the University. During HDGIC 2012, James introduced us to What Soil Is.

Fred Davis, Hardscape Technical Sales Rep, Mutual Material
Theory of Base Installation for Segmental Concrete Pavements
Fred has worked in commercial sales for over three years; promoting hardscapes to architects and engineers in the Oregon and SW Washington areas. Currently he conducts CEU discussions for landscape architects, architects and civil engineers with an emphasis on specifying and designing Interlocking Concrete Pavements (ICP) and Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements (PICP). Fred holds certificates to instruct: the ICPI PICP Installer Technician Certificate Course; the ICP Installer Program; and the Segmental Retaining Wall Installer Program.

Tim Fernald, National Agronomic Instructor, Ewing Irrigation Products
Reducing the Impact Pests Have on Turf & in the Landscape
Tim joined Ewing in 2007, as the turf products and agronomic sales representative in Northern California and Southern Oregon; His responsibilities also include providing pesticide compliance education and technical training for customers and Ewing employees in the Western United States. As an instructor for Shasta College, Tim conducts plant science, ornamental turf and horticulture classes. He has an associate's degree in agronomics, a bachelor's degree in agriculture and business and is a member of the California Association of Pest Control Advisers and the Pesticide Applicators Professional Association. He is also a California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Qualified Applicator License and Agriculture Pesticide Control Adviser.

Stephen Fitzgerald, Area Extension Forester, Oregon State University
Fire! And Trees:  Helping Homeowners After the Smoke Clears
Steve is the Area Extension Forester for the Oregon State University Extension Service in the central Oregon region. He conducts extensive educational programming in wildland fire, fuel reduction, and post-fire recovery. Much of his silvicultural research deals with forest restoration and improving forest health in dry-site forests of central and eastern Oregon. Steve currently holds the rank of Professor in the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

Tom Glazener, Instructor Ewing Education Services, Ewing Irrigation Products
Saving Time With Your Multimeter & Wire Locator
Tom, CGIA, CIC, CID, CLIA, CLWM is a Portland-based instructor for Ewing Education Services. With over 20 years in the green industry, Tom's role is that of trainer and "swing coach" of sorts for irrigation professionals nationwide. He is a Texas licensed irrigator, and currently serves on the Irrigation Foundation Board of Trustees.

Laurie Gordon, Certification & Licensing Specialist, Oregon Department of Agriculture
Pesticide Safety and How to Stay Off ODA’s Radar Screen
Laurie is a graduate of Oregon State University with a BS in Agricultural Education, a minor in Crop Science, Ag Engineering and General Agriculture. Currently she works for Oregon Department of Agriculture as a certification and licensing specialist. During her working career however, she has done a variety of things from managing a greenhouse, propagation, tissue culture work, research trials, noxious weed specialist, technical field representative for a chemical company, a pesticide investigator and a pesticide safety educator.

Matt Hand, Head Pixel Pusher, Hand in Hand Productions
Staying Mobile and Getting Your Work Done
Matt Is the owner of Hand In Hand Productions. He has been teaching video production all of his professional life through being the production supervisor for COTV 11 and later when owning his own video production company. Matt has taught community education for COCC for the last few years in both social media and iPad. He loves to teach and help educate new users in the proper use of technology. Walking the walk, Matt has his whole office on the road most days and enjoys sharing tips on how to make your life more mobile.

Jeff Hatten, Assistant Professor of Forest Soils, Oregon State University
Fire! And Trees:  Helping Homeowners After the Smoke Clears
While Jeff has lived in several small towns in the Puget Sound region, he considers himself from Port Orchard, WA. He has a BS in Environmental Science from Western Washington University, and a PhD in Forest Soils from the University of Washington. Before his current position as an Assistant Professor of Forest Soils at Oregon State University in the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, Jeff was an Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University in the Department of Forestry. His research focuses on forests soils in managed settings which include intensively managed forests, prescribed fire, and other less intensively managed sites. Jeff and his wife live happily in north Corvallis with their almost 3-year old daughter and recently born fraternal twins (daughter & son).

Tim Lambert, Sports Field Specialist, Ewing Irrigation Products
Sports Fields:  Maintenance and Moisture Management
Tim is the sports field specialist for Ewing in the Pacific Northwest. He has worked at Ewing for 6 years. providing products and solutions for the safest and best playable surfaces for baseball and softball programs throughout the Northwest. Tim has a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University. While attending college, he was a 4-year letterman on the OSU baseball team. Currently, he is the assistant varsity baseball coach at Southridge High School in Beaverton, OR.

Katie Lompa, Community Assistance Forester, Department of Forestry
Fire! And Trees:  Helping Homeowners After the Smoke Clears
For 15 years, Katie has worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry, Urban & Community Forestry Assistance Program as a community assistance forester. From her office in Prineville, OR, she provides urban forestry leadership, education and technical services to cities, other state and local agencies, schools and universities, and non-profit and civic organizations located within the 18 Oregon counties east of the Cascades. Prior to working for ODF, Katie covered the Eastern Shore of Maryland for the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources, Forest Service as a Forest Conservation Act Regional Coordinator and Urban Forester. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Urban Forest Resource Management from The Ohio State University and is an ISA Certified Arborist.

John Low, Manager, Ewing Irrigation Products
Pesticide and Fertilizer Success Through Calibration
John is a 30 year veteran of the Green Industry. His work experience is in golf course maintenance in Central Oregon, teaching pesticide safety and other Green Industry classes at Central Oregon Community College, and managing Ewing Irrigation Products, supplying pesticides, fertilizers, bio-stimulants and soil amendments in Central Oregon.

Rick Martinson, President, Winter Creek Restoration
Native Plant Landscapes:  Incorporating Ecology for Sustainability
Rick is president and co-owner of WinterCreek Restoration, a landscape and nursery company specializing in ecology based landscapes and native plants for over twelve years. His previous experience ranges from working as a botanist for potential Wilderness Area studies under RARE II in the Northwest, to leading a team studying human impacts on pre-settlement condition in the upper Midwest. He has worked on ecological analyses in a broad range of environments around the country and uses knowledge gained from his work to design and install ecological restoration projects and award winning landscapes focused on ecological principles and resource conservation. Rick is a PhD student at Oregon State University, working on development of a degree program in Restoration Horticulture. His research is in the application of ecoregional data in land use planning and design. He is also an OSU Master Gardener.

Joe Mendez, Climbing Arborist, City of Portland; Lead Instructor, North American Training Solutions
Advanced Tree Climbing Techniques
Joe is currently employed by the City of Portland Urban Forestry Division as a climbing arborist with more than 16 years experience. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Arizona and is a TCIA Certified Tree Care Safety Professional, an ISA Certified Arborist, ISA Certified Treeworker and an ISA Certified Aerial Lift Specialist. Joe is also a Lead Instructor with North American Training Solutions, a training company committed to providing superior tree industry related training and education. During HDGIC 2012, Joe taught What it Takes to Become a Tree Climbing Arborist.

Randall Miller, Director of Vegetation Management, PacificCorp
Worker Safety and Power Lines

Randall is Director of Vegetation Management at PacifiCorp. He joined PacifiCorp in 1993, and has been their System Forester since 1999. Randall is currently a member of the Tree Fund Board and has served as President of the Utility Arborist Association in 2008 and 2009, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry from 1999 to 2010, the International Society of Arboriculture’s Certification Test Committee, as Chair of the Edison Electric Institute Vegetation Management Task Force, President of the Oregon Urban and Community Forest Council and as a member of Utah Community Forest Council Board. He earned his bachelor's degree in horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and master's degree in urban forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is a certified arborist and certified utility specialist. He has received the 2001 ISA Pacific Northwest Chapter Utility Arborist Award, 2005 ISA R.W. Harris Author's Citation, 2007 Utility Arborist Association President’s Award, the 2007 ISA Pacific Northwest Chapter President’s Award and 2008 Utah Chapter Distinguished Service Award. He has over 50 arboriculturally-related writing credits, including the ISA’s Integrated Vegetation Management Best Practices, and speaks widely on arboricultural, urban forestry, and utility arboricultural topics.
 

Elizabeth Peters, Lean Team Director, Oregon Association of Nurseries
Keynote:  Creating Success with Every Step:  Learn Principles & Practices
A graduate of Lewis and Clark College and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management, Elizabeth Peters has a 15-year background in communications, product development, process improvement, and public affairs. Her Lean practitioner journey began with formal training at Goodrich Aerostructures, a company hailed as "the best in the world outside of Toyota" by James Womack. At the Oregon Association of Nurseries, Peters directs the publications and communications teams, serves as first point of contact for the media, and directs the award-winning Lean Team. She also serves on the steering committee for the Mid-Willamette High Performance Consortium for manufacturers, the board of the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce, and the Clackamas County Economic Development Commission.

Karen Rossetto, Landscape Design & Project Manager, Landsystems Nursery
Landscape Design Trends
Karen has over 15 years of landscape design and consulting experience in Central Oregon. She enjoys creating unique spaces for outdoor living and using plants to personalize them further. Karen coaches customers, teaches classes for local garden groups, and is volunteering in a local elementary school to bring edible gardening to kids. She holds a degree in landscape architecture and is an Oregon Licensed Landscape Contractor.

Ramesh Sagili, Assistant Professor, Oregon State University
Bee Friendly Insecticide Management
Dr. Ramesh Sagili is a honey bee research and extension faculty in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University. He obtained his PhD in Entomology from Texas A&M University in 2007 specializing in honey bee research. He has bachelors and a Masters degree in Agriculture from A.P. Agricultural University, India. His primary research focus at OSU is honey bee health, nutrition and pollination. His appointment also includes extension and hence he works closely with the state stake holders i.e. both beekeepers and producers. His goal is to establish a vibrant and dynamic honey bee research and extension program at OSU that will cater the needs of beekeepers and producers.

David Shaw, Extension Forest Health Specialist, Associate Professor, Oregon State University
Fire! And Trees:  Helping Homeowners After the Smoke Clears
David is an Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, and a Forest Health Specialist in the Oregon State University Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Program. He received a Ph.D. from University of Washington in Forest Protection in 1991 and has been with OSU, College of Forestry since 2005 where he focuses on forest diseases and insect pests, including their interactions with fire.

Don Sprague, Owner/Manager, Don Sprague Sales/Cinch Trap Company
Reign in those Rodents:  Mole and Gopher Control

Don is the owner and manager of Don Sprague Sales and the Cinch Trap Company. Throughout the United States, his company has educated over 10,000 people in classes held on mole and gopher control, while also supplying customers the traps necessary to do the job. Over the course of 25 years, Don has field tested different means of control and knows what will work and what will not.

James White, Water Management Consultant, Ewing Irrigation Products
To Be or Not To Be ET?  Does Your Controller Know Where It’s At?
James is a horticulturist and water management specialist serving Oregon and Washington. Proficient in all aspects of landscape and irrigation design, installation, and management, he has a strong working knowledge of irrigation scheduling theory and practical experience with virtually all irrigation control systems. Mr. White has over 12 years of experience with water conservation and previously served as conservation program coordinator for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, as well as water waste investigator for the Las Vegas Valley Water District. His experience includes the development and management of xeriscape and irrigation clock rebate programs in Nevada, as well as a five-year xeriscape conservation study conducted in cooperation with the U.S Bureau of Reclamation. Additional achievements include development and establishment of a landscape contractor certification program, irrigation site evaluation program, and various public outreach programs. He also has five years of experience serving as an independent landscape and irrigation subcontractor. James received a bachelor of science in marketing from University of Nevada and is a Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor, Certified Landscape Irrigation Designer, a Certified Arborist, and a Certified Permaculture Designer.