Forestry

Municipal Tree Academy

The Municipal Tree Academy is an informal training program that provides education to arborists, landscape professionals, municipal workers and members of the public interested in caring for trees within their communities. This training is designed to not only teach the fundamental principles of tree health care, but to also give people the tools to become advocates for trees in their communities. Bi-weekly lectures and hands-on workshop trainings will be led by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County certified arborist, Leanna Nugent.

Program Design

The Municipal Tree Academy will be an 3-week program that will utilize both in-person and virtual interactive lectures and in-person workshop trainings. The dates for the 2025 Municipal Tree Academy will be January 13^th – January 27^th. The classes will be held twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm.

The interactive lectures will cover the following:

Course 1: Right Tree Right Place/Installation & Establishment

CCE Onondaga, 6505 Collamer Rd, East Syracuse or virtual via Zoom

Course 2: Tree Planting Practicum

Location TBD

Course 3: Introduction to Tree Pruning

CCE Onondaga, 6505 Collamer Rd, East Syracuse or virtual via Zoom

Course 4: Tree Pruning Practicum

Location TBD

Course 5: Tree Risk Assessment

Location TBD

*ISA and CNLP credits are available for these courses.*

Completion of Requirements:

Earning the Cornell Cooperative Extension Municipal Tree Academy Certification will provide credibility that can lead to opportunities to speak about the many benefits of trees and provide guidance on urban and community tree best management practices throughout the community.

To earn a certificate of completion, participants must complete the entire course and actively participate in lectures and workshops. Participants who are unable to attend a lecture will be asked to watch a recording of the lecture and successfully pass a quiz relevant to the lecture materials. Participants who are unable to attend a practicum workshop must provide a written notice to the instructor at least one week prior to the scheduled date and will be asked to participate in an alternative activity. In the event of an emergency absence, participants must contact the instructor within 48 hours and request an alternate assignment.

Participants who successfully complete all of the course requirements will receive an Municipal Tree Academy Certificate of Completion.

Cost of Program:

The cost of this program is $40 per course or $150 for all 5 courses.
The minimum age to participate is 18 years old.

If you have any questions, please contact Leanna at lwn5@cornell.edu

To Register

CLICK HERE to register and pay through PayPal. Please note you do not need a PayPal account to continue, just choose pay with credit/debit and choose "Do Not Save Your Info".

For more information and program requirements, reach out to lwn5@cornell.edu

Last updated November 18, 2024