The most common job of a professional tree climber is to work as an arborist or tree doctor. These boys and girls climb dangerous trees, making the world above our heads a little safer. They are also credited with having done a great job helping to care for our urban trees. In addition to changing your job search, it may be useful to look for a career path for your specific job.
Now, what is a career path, you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you can advance from one position to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of foreman, you could eventually move on to a role such as supervisor. Later in your career, you could end up in the position of title service manager.
Tim Kovar climbed his first tree in his Nebraska backyard at age four. He is now a master climbing instructor and has climbed more than 5000 trees around the world, in places ranging from South America to Southeast Asia and all over the United States. Many of those trips were organized by biologists, entomologists and other scientists, who hired Kovar to collect data about treetops or install equipment to climb safely. He has taught nearly 1000 researchers how to climb trees, has helped more than two dozen of them in their fields and has been recognized in a textbook on tree crowns at risk.
When he's not helping with scientific studies, Kovar can be found in Oregon City, Oregon. For example, an employer might offer a tree climber higher salaries if they have extensive work experience or are an apprentice to a professional tree climber. Professional climbers often act as arborists, also known as people who help keep trees healthy. However, some tree climbers also work as tour or recreational guides, as recreational tree climbing is becoming increasingly popular among young people at heart.
Tree climbers deftly ascend and descend a tree performing tasks designed to maintain the health and appearance of the tree, such as spraying for pests or diseases or pruning branches. As you can probably imagine, climbing trees is not a skill you can specialize in at most universities, which explains why few tree climbers have bachelor's degrees.
