Pitt Sustainability and Tree Pittsburgh are sponsoring a two-part Tree Tender certification course, where you can learn more about trees and how to care for them in Oakland and your home neighborhood.

Tree Pittsburgh teaches about trees in urban or built-up environments — collectively termed the urban forest. Specifically, the curriculum covers tree biology and benefits, tree identification for beginners, tree planting, tree care and pruning, and how to get involved in efforts to protect and grow your patch of the urban forest.

All Pitt employees and students can become a Tree Tender for free. After getting certified, Pitt Sustainability asks that you commit to volunteering to help maintain street trees in Oakland in partnership with Oakland Planning and Development Corp. and/or in your home neighborhood. More details on Pitt Sustainability initiatives can be found here.

Registration is essential for this course, which is broken up into two afternoon sessions from 1 to 4 p.m. June 5 and 6 at the William Pitt University, room 837. Register through Tree Pittsburgh.

A small portion of the training will be held outdoors, weather permitting. Dress accordingly.

For more information, contact Maeve@treepittsburgh.org or 412-781-8733, ext. 214.