CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Em Roberts
Clackamas College (US)
SPEAKER BIO
Em Roberts is a consulting arborist, educator, and career tree worker with more than 18 years of experience across commercial arboriculture, forestry, urban forestry, utility forestry, government, consulting, and higher education. Her work has ranged from climbing and hazard tree felling to tree risk assessment, diagnostics, plant health care, appraisal, tree preservation, and advanced assessment.
Em has spent much of her career teaching and mentoring arborists, with an emphasis on building practical skills, sound judgment, and confidence in the field. She previously served as a lead instructor for North American Training Solutions, traveling throughout the United States to teach climbing, chainsaw operations, felling, rigging, and aerial rescue. She currently teaches in the Arboriculture Program at Clackamas Community College in Oregon, USA, where her work spans arboriculture, tree risk assessment, plant health care, climbing, safety, and professional tree care.
Her work is grounded in practical experience, evidence-based decision-making, and a commitment to better outcomes for trees, arborists, and the communities they serve.
TALK TITLE
Ethics in Arboriculture: Reclaiming Our Responsibility | Better Decisions in Arboriculture: The Value of Collaboration
ABSTRACT
First talk: Ethics in Arboriculture: Reclaiming Our Responsibility
Arborists make decisions every day that affect trees, clients, coworkers, employers, and the communities we serve. While standards, best management practices, and qualifications provide important guidance, ethical decision-making often requires navigating situations where the answers are not always clear.
Drawing from experiences in consulting, diagnostics, tree risk assessment, climbing, hazard tree removal, business ownership, and public service, this presentation explores the role of ethics in professional arboricultural practice. Through practical examples and real-world scenarios, attendees will examine topics including professional responsibility, objectivity, conflicts of interest, diagnostics, due diligence, accountability, and stewardship.
This session encourages arborists to reflect on the decisions we make, the information we rely upon, and the impact our actions have on trees, clients, coworkers, and the profession as a whole.
Ethics is not a checklist to be completed, but a compass that helps guide our decisions. By strengthening our ethical foundations, we can better serve our communities, support one another, and provide higher quality care for the trees entrusted to us.
Second talk: Better Decisions in Arboriculture: The Value of Collaboration
Arborists routinely make important decisions with incomplete information. Consultants, climbers, plant health care specialists, diagnosticians, fallers, and clients each bring unique knowledge and perspectives to the process, often contributing different pieces of the same puzzle.
Drawing from a career spent working across government, consulting, business ownership, and hands-on tree care operations, this presentation explores how collaboration can strengthen professional judgment and improve decision-making. Through practical examples and real-world observations, attendees will examine the value of feedback loops, diagnostic validation, post-removal learning, peer review, and knowledge-sharing across specialties.
This session encourages arborists to seek opportunities for collaboration, curiosity, and professional connection, both within our own areas of expertise and across the broader profession.
The best arboricultural decisions are rarely made in isolation. By sharing observations, experiences, and perspectives, we can build stronger professional relationships, make more informed decisions, and provide better outcomes for the trees and communities we serve.