Those Tenacious, Resilient, Enduring, Enchanting Systems that we know as trees have provided a rich, fulfilling career for Laurie and continue to do so.  He is grateful for this.

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Professionally, Laurie is a Landscape Horticulturist Journeyperson, an ISA Certified Arborist, an ISA Certified Tree Worker Climber Specialist, holder of a Bachelor of Applied Horticulture Technology (Landscape Management) degree from Olds College, currently Tree Risk Assessment Qualified and Tree Appraisal Qualified.  In the 22 years that he taught arboriculture and horticulture at Olds College he took multiple short-burst education and arboriculture courses every year, many of them from Arboriculture Canada Training and Education, Ltd. (ACTE). A highlight of this lifelong learning has been the opportunity to take ACTE’s Chainsaw Train the Trainer course four times in three different places in North America.

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Another organization that has contributed significantly to Laurie’s career of 34 years as an arborist is the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).  He has had the privilege of not only competing in the Tree Climbing Competitions held in the Prairie Chapter but of also chairing this same competition for a six-year period.  Much learning across various disciplines occurs by being involved in the ISA and he looks forward to attending the Prairie Chapter Conference every year.

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Laurie has been recognized for his work by being given The Spirit of the Competition award three times by the volunteers and participants of the Prairie Chapter Tree Climbing Championships.  During his time as arboriculture instructor at Olds College he was the recipient of the Ian Hall Outstanding Staff/Faculty Award in 2001-2002, the College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin - National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award in 2008, the Presidential Instructional Excellence Award in 2018 and he received the Bronze Award for Leadership Excellence for Faculty from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) in 2019.  He was also selected for the Alex L. Shigo Award for Excellence in Arboriculture Education in 2022.

As much as awards recognize achievements and accomplishments, and as thankful as he is for those acknowledgements, Laurie is most grateful for the abundance, value, and depth added to his life by his faith, by 35 years of marriage to Carla, by his three daughters and their spouses, by the wonderful grandchildren that continue to come from those relationships, and of course, by his friends and mentors!