Turning Your Passion for Nature into a Career
“I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.”
This iconic verse from Joyce Kilmer’s 1913 classic poem Trees endures as timeless testimony to beauty of nature. While many appreciate the awe-inspiring wonders of the natural world, few possess the skills, knowledge, and passion to be able to preserve it.
2024 Bidwell Training Center graduate Andrew Fielding is one of the few making a real and lasting impact on the environment. As a certified arborist for Northwood Tree Care in Pittsburgh, he applies his diverse portfolio of technical skills in a job he loves. “I love nature. That’s what drives me to be out here for sure,” says Andrew. “I knew I wanted to do something with the environment.”
While every day is rewarding for Andrew, no two are ever the same. He may find himself engaged in anything from injecting fungicide to protect a mighty oak to excavating a root collar on an elm or even conducting soil analyses. “It’s different every day. There’s no, no way to expect what a day is going to be like here,” he explains.
Like many Bidwell Training Center students, Andrew didn’t enroll in the Horticulture Program right after high school. His circuitous route included several low-skill positions with no real opportunity for advancement. At age 24, with the support of family and friends, he made the decision to upskill through a 7-month technical training program at Bidwell. Upon graduation, he found employment and gained a new perspective on life figuratively and literally from a tree limb 50 feet in the air! “It’s not an easy job and it’s certainly not for everyone,” says Andrew. “It takes a certain type of personality to want to climb trees, you know?”
There is an increasing demand for trained professionals like Andrew in plant science fields including agriculture and horticulture, leading to a wide range of career opportunities. Bidwell Training Center’s Horticulture Program’s science-based core instruction focuses on traditional and practical skills development and integrates advancing technology, sustainability, and current industry best practices. Students will establish a strong background in the plant sciences while applying their knowledge in hands-on experiences. The curriculum is aligned to many high-priority occupations (HPOs) in Pennsylvania’s regional job market.
What is Driving the Growth?
The demand for plant science professionals is moving rapidly beyond traditional farm management and expanding into high-tech research, conservation, and sustainability. Key factors pushing the industry forward include:
- Global Food Security: There is a pressing need to maximize agricultural productivity and adapt nutritional outputs to feed a growing global population.
- Climate and Resource Adaptation: Scientists are urgently needed to develop resilient, high-yield food, ornamental, and forestry plants that require less water and resist pests without relying heavily on traditional chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
- The Biotechnology Boom: Continuous innovation in genetic engineering, laboratory research, and sustainable biomaterials is creating entirely new job categories within the plant sciences.
Bidwell provides significant applied hands-on learning opportunities integrated throughout the coursework. Opportunities exist in areas of ornamental horticulture, agriculture, arboriculture, and floriculture, among others, including but not limited to positions in greenhouse production and operations, interior plant maintenance, farming, environmental technology, nursery management, turf management, conservation, landscaping, hardscaping, and wholesale/retail floristry.
“I just want to educate the general public more about the environment around them and how special it is,” Andrew says. But for now, plant sciences is where his interests and future are rooted. “I wanted to be in the natural world every day and not in an office. And there’s no other job like this.”
“This curriculum project is funded through a $400,000 U.S. Department of Labor – Employment and Training Administration grant to expand institutional capacity and strengthen workforce development opportunities in the plant sciences industry. One hundred percent (100%) of the project costs are federally funded.”