Linn-Benton Community College

Tree climbing and tree care classes will be held at Linn-Benton Community College beginning April 4. The 11-week Arboriculture Practicum class provides field experience in tree climbing and tree work including how to safely access, rig, climb and work in broadleaf and coniferous trees of various sizes.  This two-credit class will meet Thursdays from 2 to 4:50 p.m. beginning April 4. Cost per credit is $96 with a $5 lab fee. No pre-requisite is required. A four-credit Arboriculture Principles and Practices class will be offered in addition to the practicum class. Learn how to select, plant and provide ongoing tree care in this comprehensive class. Class will transfer to Oregon State University. Both courses are taught by experienced arborists and are designed to prepare participants for the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certification. For more information, contact LBCC horticulture instructor Stefan Seiter at 541-917-4765. To register, check the online reg...

Students in LBCC’s Water Environmental Technology program got to see first-hand how to do vertical boring for water line installation during a class demonstration Thursday morning. But what started out as a plan to do a practical demonstration with the City of Albany soon became a real project with a win-win for both the students and the college. George Van Keulen, head of LBCC’s facilities grounds crew, and Ron Sharman, WET department chair, put their heads together and found a way to benefit both the students in the program while providing much needed water lines for the college's horticulture program green houses. Van Keulen and Sharman contacted Stefan Seiter, horticulture program chair, and, along with Jeff Kinney, water systems manager with the City of Albany, they arranged to run water lines to the two green houses located in the horticulture program’s garden as part of the demonstration. Kinney and Matt Thompson, City of Albany water supervisor, a...

What does it take to become a sustainable farmer? How do we grow biofuels for a sustainable future? And just what do these two things really mean? Ask agriculture instructor Stefan Seiter. In his eighth year of instruction at the college, Seiter is working to teach students all they need to know about sustainability in agriculture, and he’s doing it in a big way. Last year, Seiter began a nine-month professional leave of absence that would take him to some of the most innovative ecological farming education programs in the world, bringing back the best of the best ideas from college and intensive training programs across the United States, Germany, England, Denmark and Costa Rica. His goal: To gather as many ideas as possible about teaching sustainable agriculture and ecological practices, and to integrate those ideas into a long-term vision for LBCC’s programs to help make the college a national leader in the field. With those ideas in hand, Seiter is developing a new sustainable foo...