Your Instructors

Victor is co-author of Arboriculture and the Law, the first publication devoted exclusively to the law of trees, and is a featured speaker on these issues across the United States and Canada. In public practice, he worked for the Ohio Attorney General, assigned primarily to the Department of Agriculture. In private practice, he handles cases in various aspects of the law, particularly in matters concerning trees. He earned his J.D. degree from Capital University Law School and studied horticulture at Ohio State University. He is the instructor for the Arbor Day Foundation’s seminars on Trees, People, & the Law. Visit his web site at treeandneighborlaw.com.

Bill is an Instructor and Program Coordinator for Urban and Community Forestry for the School of Forest Resources at Pennsylvania State University. Previously, he served as Assistant Planner and Urban Forester for the City of Thousand Oaks, California. He holds a B.S. in Forest Resource Management, an M.B.A. from the University of Montana, and is anticipating the completion of his Ph. D. in Forest Science from Penn State School of Forest Resources. In 1991, he received the National Merit Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. In 1997, he received the Arbor Day Education Award for the extension program.

Jill is a Plant Pathologist with the USDA Forest Service, State & Private Forestry Branch, located in St. Paul, Minnesota. She provides technical assistance to seven Midwestern states in the area of tree risk management, plant disease diagnostics, and disease management in forest nurseries. Her work focuses on developing publications and other educational materials and conducting training workshops. Jill serves as the coordinating author of Urban Tree Risk Management: A Community Guide to Program Design and Implementation. Jill received her B.S. degree in plant health technology and her M.S. degree in plant pathology from the University of Minnesota. Prior to working with the Forest Service, Jill served as Director of the Plant Disease Clinic at the University of Minnesota for 12 years.

Mark earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Resources from the University of Montana and a Master’s degree in Urban Forestry from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Mark founded Natural Path in 1989 and focused mostly on developing tree inventories and management plans for communities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. In the last nine years he has been retained on numerous tree-related fatality cases. Recently, he has concentrated on developing defensible tree risk management strategies for government agencies and is currently writing a book on the topic.

Bonapart & Associates is a law and mediation firm specializing in complex commercial litigation and tree and neighbor law. Barri’s clientele includes local businesses, tree care companies, professionals, and property owners. She advises homeowners, arborists, attorneys, and public entities regarding personal injury and property damage caused by trees, trespass, nuisance, and encroachments. She represents parties in disputes about views, tree removal, threats to life and property from trees, boundaries, fences, insurance coverage, and the interpretation of local tree ordinances. She has authored numerous articles and is a featured speaker nationally on tree and neighbor law. Barri earned her law degree from Boalt Hall, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.