V.J. Comai hired as City Arborist for Burlington

V.J. is a native Vermonter, growing up in the town of Readsboro at the southern border of the state. He attended the University of Vermont where he earned a BS in Community Forestry and Horticulture from 1984-1988. For the 24 years following graduation he managed the South Forty Nursery in Charlotte, Vermont where he field grew trees and shrubs for the wholesale market in Vermont.Upon phasing out the nursery, V.J. spent a summer working as consulting arborist for an engineering firm overseeing Vtrans projects that involved new tree plantings. For the three years leading up to his hiring as City Arborist he worked as an arborist representative with Bartlett Tree Experts managing residential and commercial properties throughout the state diagnosing  and assessing the health of landscape trees and shrubs and providing recommendations and services to address related problems.V.J. is a certified arborist through the International Society of Arboriculture, (ISA) and is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified through the ISA. He is a current member of the New England Chapter of the ISA and a long-time member of Green Works, the Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association. He has served on the Green Works board of directors for 16 years and served as president for four of those years. He is also a former member of the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Council.Throughout his professional career he has obtained hundreds of hours of continuing education in the field of arboriculture through technical workshops and seminars. He has also shared his expertise and experience extensively with community groups and industry professionals through presentations in seminars and hands-on workshops. In addition he currently serves as an advisor to the Charlotte tree warden and volunteer tree group. V.J. lives in Charlotte with his wife and has 4 grown children and two step children.Branch Out Burlington welcomes VJ to his new post and looks forward to working with him.