Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) students studying Arboriculture were privileged to take part on a trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
The Arboriculture students enjoyed an informative tree tour with Kew’s Head of Tree Collections, Kevin Martin. With a key focus on climate change and resilient species, they looked at how the latest research is beginning to influence tree selection and planting in the UK to ensure ongoing longevity of our countryside and city trees.
Combined with technical knowledge learnt in classroom, visits such as this help bring everything together – enabling students to visualise the future challenges that modern arboriculture will face in the coming years.
The Royal Botanic Gardens’ mission, at both the Kew Gardens and Wakehurst, is to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the wellbeing of people and the future for all life on Earth.
Earlier in 2024, the gardens announced a groundbreaking mycological research programme with the National History Museum that seeks to reveal the vast diversity of fungi and lichens and the roles they play in our wild ecosystems and human-altered landscapes.
Zak Wirdnam, a Level 3 Forestry & Arboriculture student, said,
Studying Arboriculture at BTC has been amazing! I’ve learnt so much between College, my work experience and the industry talks and visits. I’ve now got full time work as a climbing arborist. Whilst I’m sad about leaving my amazing College days behind me, I’m also very excited about stepping full time into the industry.
Mike Cullen, Course Leader, said,
It’s always a mixture of sadness and excitement at this time of year when we see our amazing students leave us and venture off into such a demanding industry. Watching the forging of incredibly strong and mutually supportive friendships and know that many of them will still be in touch in 30 years fills me with pride. It really is a great feeling knowing you have played a part in that process.
These students, just like the hundreds of students before them will find work across the world and even settle down and have families on the other side of the world. At BTC we are very proud of our students’ achievements.
For more information on future events and BTC’s multitude of educational offerings, please visit www.btc.ac.uk or get in touch with the Information & Advice team by emailing info@btc.ac.uk.
