Women in arb: KF Forestry's Kirsty Evans

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?

I have had a varied number of jobs before arriving in arboriculture. Outside working, I have also had a focus on playing ice hockey for England women as well as trialling for the Great Britain Roller Hockey team. For a period, I also worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for a car rental firm, and as a tour bus guide and in Oman. In both places I kept playing hockey. It was, however, on a holiday to Edinburgh to see the Fringe

Festival that I decided I wanted to stay in Scotland. I then attended Abertay University, graduating with a first-class degree in Sociology. With this goal accomplished, I wanted to experience working in a trade. I worked as a labourer during the week for a joiner and continued my university job at Dundee Ice Arena at weekends. This was for about a year before coming into contact with Kieran, the manager of KF Forestry. He, like me, was involved in ice hockey. Kieran was looking for someone to join the arb team there. I guess it was a debate for him about taking someone onboard with experience or a person that could be trained up as an arborist.

Just a wee prune.

I think he could see that, through working as part of a team in ice hockey, I showed skills and attributes he could utilise in training me to become a member of his arb group. That was two years ago and I have since completed most of the tickets required to carry out this role.

READ MORE: Women in arb: Margrethe Wheeler

WHERE ARE YOU BASED?

Kirkcaldy in Fife.

WHAT MADE YOU PURSUE A CAREER IN ARBORICULTURE?

Kieran had me out for a work trial and introduced me to some tasks that climbing arborists do. I watched as he threw his rope up a mature sycamore. His anchor point was set high up within minutes and once he had everything in place he began climbing it. He then showed me how to throw a rope bundle, walking out onto the branches and swinging gracefully about the canopy. I knew, having spent that day climbing a tree, it was what I wanted to learn how to do.

Working with trees in my mind has certain parallels with ice hockey: both require a skill set, a level of fitness, and each has an element of danger, albeit more in arboriculture but ice hockey is a tough sport, meaning that you have to be focused and take a real interest in your environment and what is going on around you. Both need team players and people that understand that need to do a job to support the team effort.

WHAT DOES YOUR DAY-TO-DAY WORK INVOLVE?

It is quite varied with no two days being the same. I could have a day spent in the office, while the next day I could be out felling and dismantling a tree, or I could be working on the carbon credits for our KF Carbon business side. You absolutely need to plan but things certainly do not always go to plan. Weather plays a big part and I have this year worked outside in -11 and most recently 28 degrees!

I could also be running the forwarder on one job, feeding the chipper on the next or helping to take down a tree. Just as every tree is different, then so is every job and I enjoy how varied the work tasks are. For instance, a recent clearing of rhododendrons, which I always thought were nice to look at, but I now know can cause all sorts of issues to the environment.

They are invasive and tough going to clear. This summer we also have experienced a lot of midges and horsefly bites working in the woods.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE IN ARBORICULTURE?

Assisting Kieran on the dismantling of a large Douglas fir, located high up on a hillside, with a road and houses surrounding and bordering it. The limbs coming down off this tree were like tree trunks themselves. This job gave me a real insight into how to safely and correctly dismantle such a tricky tree. I gained experience in rigging large limbs down, watching how a tree saw is used to dismantle such a large specimen. The Douglas fir was dismantled without damaging any property and I saw the level of fitness and skill required that day, it was evident that Kieran had had many years of experience of working in the industry.

WHAT WAS THE LAST JOB YOU WORKED ON?

An interesting job dealing with the removal of a number of larch trees infected with Phytophthora ramorum. This was a job where we were dealing with a statutory plant health notice, which states that infected trees need to be felled and material left on site. We also did not want to do anything which could cause this disease to spread and, as such, we needed to disinfect all equipment used once we had finished.

WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENT IN THE INDUSTRY?

I think gaining my CS38 Tree Climbing & Aerial Rescue ticket. The course, which I attended, was a week long and during this, I was working with another woman. All the practising of rescuing was done ‘women with women’. On the day of the assessment, our instructor told one of the guys, who just happened to be one of the tallest and biggest on the course, to climb up the tree and feign a fall to allow someone to be able to perform the ‘aerial rescue’.

When he chose me to do it, I was initially wondering how I was going to manage to get this guy (who was 6 ft and probably weighed 90 kg) safely down the tree! Rather than give up before I started, I cracked on climbing up the tree and, remembering my training, was able to perform the rescue successfully. As a result, I passed that part of the course and the course overall. It was a great feeling to be able to do this.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED DURING YOUR TIME IN THE INDUSTRY?

I would say quite simply to ‘pay attention’. I have learned that no matter how well you plan and how much you assess risk, in a split second things can be okay and then dramatically different if you don’t keep alert and focused on the task in hand. The big thing about working in the woods is that lack of attention could ultimately end up as a life-and-death matter.

Felling outsiders.

I have had a good teacher to learn from with regard to this because Kieran is very risk aware. Kieran takes time to think about all the possible eventualities before tackling each job.

I have also learned that each member of the team has a responsibility to look out for the other team members as your actions can affect them. Ice hockey can have its risks of injury and is a sport where you need to be aware of what is going on because it is fast moving so I guess that has helped. Overall, I have developed respect for checking out tree canopies and looking out for the dangers that they might hold with things such as deadwood that can fall at any moment and cause serious injury if disturbed by tree works.

WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE OF BEING A WOMAN IN A MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY BEEN?

I have never really considered gender in all the jobs that I have had. Therefore, I have never looked at the jobs that are worked predominately by men and thought that was a reason for not doing the work – if it was what I wanted to do at the time. For example, I was the only woman doing deliveries on a moped because I wanted to be out on the road on a bike rather than in a shop and customer facing. I was 16 and playing under-18 hockey matches in mixed teams of males and females. So it is something that I have never been concerned about. I have joined a team that has furthered my learning and sense of teamwork.

READ MORE: Women in arb: tree-cutting surveyor Kirsten Summers

I think the fact that I have worked hard and been prepared to tackle all the various jobs required in arboriculture has helped. Sure, there is a limit to the weight and size of some of the heavy lumber that I can lift in comparison to larger men and I recognise that. However, in climbing, a high strength-to-weight ratio is important. Therefore, climbing and moving around a tree can be done well by both males and females. Especially with the advancement in kit, where mechanical devices can assist you three-to-one and making arboriculture more accessible.

Using spikes.

Talking about kit, as a woman in the industry, I have found this a little challenging, especially when it comes to small gloves and finding the right chainsaw trousers. The only comments on me being a woman have been from an active interest in seeing a woman doing what is traditionally associated with men. Oh, and a passer-by commenting that he ‘thought it was a woman driving’ after watching me reverse with a trailer, not long after I learned to do it and not having quite the success I hoped for!

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ENCOURAGE MORE WOMEN INTO THE SECTOR?

Probably the industry trying to get across the message that working in it does not just have to be about working with a chainsaw. It can involve a number of different job roles.

You can, for instance, be involved in the research side of working with trees, or work carrying out surveys or now be involved in carbon credits. I am an example of someone who had little knowledge about trees, let alone tree works, but I have found working in arboriculture to be something that I enjoy doing.

HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD WORK-LIFE BALANCE WHEN WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY?

For me it is important to have interests outside work. Working in arboriculture is physically demanding but I still like to ‘work out’ outside and after my work. If not to continue my strength training but it also is great for my mental health. In fact, to compensate for the days I spend working in the office I find myself making it up with some form of exercise for my lack of endorphins during the day!

Having got to the last trial for the Great Britain roller hockey team before COVID-19 and lockdown hit, this had involved numerous trips driving from Scotland to England on weekends to train with the team.

Putting the rope up.

I find my job overall has helped me in pursuing these personal goals as it has raised my level of fitness and I have weekends off.

That being said, I do have to be mindful not to exacerbate any injuries I might have from working in the woods and be sure I rest and recover. A good balance is definitely important, but a little challenging.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE SECTOR AT THE MOMENT IN YOUR VIEW?

In my mind, the biggest threat is from biological invaders. We already have issues with Phytophthora ramorum, oak processionary moth, and Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. With the impact of climate change becoming more and more of an issue, I think such diseases will become even more commonplace. Extra biosecurity measures and processes will be required to stop the spread of these diseases, which can have a devastating effect on the trees that are our livelihood.

ARBORICULTURE IS VERY POPULAR ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SUCH AS INSTAGRAM. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?

I think arboriculture and the work and jobs that are carried out daily lend themselves to being recorded and videos placed on online platforms for people to access and watch. I have seen some great videos of tree work being carried out which look amazing but also some badly filmed or even (dare I say) badly executed work, which is not so good.

I prefer Instagram myself rather than say Facebook, as personally I do not really want to get involved in conversation threads. I do post some of the KF Forestry work on Instagram but it is sporadic as it is quite a time-consuming job to do and do right.

WHAT GIVES YOU JOB SATISFACTION ABOUT CARRYING OUT YOUR ROLE?

For me it is the sense of achievement driving away from a job knowing that your effort has resulted in a successful job done. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment of working on tree jobs. There is an element of danger, which keeps you on your toes and in the game, especially on jobs which require the whole team and where we are working as a unit, with nothing but head nods as communication. That collective sense of success is a great feeling.