Recap of March 2024 Discussion

This month's picture is Kelsey Leake performing a tree inventory on a golf course - where a hard hat is an absolute MUST.

https://mailchi.mp/7918e966e76f/women-in-arb-zoom-14155549?e=[UNIQID]

Spring has sprung - and a BONUS eclipse

Here's a recap of our March discussion:

1. Some of our members have new babies, we discussed the trials of returning to work with newborns:

   1. Pumping when your work truck has cameras that you're not allowed to turn off.

   2. Storing breastmilk on the job.

   3. Member Mariah Menzie is working on a presentation around women with babies in the industry, if you have a story to share, pass it along.

2. We discussed higher ed - Midstate Technical college has a hands' on arboriculture program.

3. We talked about the importance of making connections - how do you find out about open jobs and types of positions without good connections?  Answer, not well.

4. We discussed making syrup from sap (as recounted in Braiding Sweetgrass) and discussed the various trees you can use - maple, birch, sycamore, and discussed how fun it would be to put together a flight of different flavors.

5. We talked about the weather around the country.  Texas is experiencing its best time right now.  THIS is the time to visit.

6. There was a podcast recommendation - Was I in a Cult?

7. We talked about speaking at conferences.  Rebecca will be speaking at the Western Chapter conference in April.

8. Two book recommendations - All the Rage and Invisible Women (this one is referenced by a lot of other books).

9. We discussed PPE and how to be safe when it doesn't fit.

   1. Protos have multiple ways to size them, Danae shared this youtube link

   2. Class 3 safety vests cannot come in a size smaller than a men's medium, which limits who can work jobs requiring them (measurements required by standard -  1,240 square inches of safety yellow or safety orange background, and at least 310 square inches of reflective striping.)

10. We also talked about growing older, and especially entering menopause with the loss muscle and bone mass that comes with decreasing hormones.  

11. How to transition in your career as your life and body changes - more fieldwork or less fieldwork.  Knowing the various types of jobs available can be difficult - it's a vast industry with many options, but how do you transition between them?  How do you develop your transferrable skills and tell your story?

12. We talked about job and career shadowing - spending time with someone doing a job you find interesting and figuring out how they got there.  Very few of us took a direct route, so learning how we told our story and brought ourselves into our current position can be very valuable to others.

13. Finally, we discussed the girl scout tree climbing badge and how we can help support girl scouts obtain it (insurance is the main stumbling block for us).