The Team

Who We Are

Lisa Sanderson

Managing Director, level 4 course tutor, teacher, assessor and guide

Lisa has worked in arboriculture and horticulture for 20+ years in the UK, New Zealand and Australia as a tree surgeon, consultant, teacher, apprenticeship co-ordinator, woodland officer, arboricultural officer, gardener and horticultural manager, and has been involved in the planting of hundreds of thousands of trees and plants. She has also served on the executive committee of the Arboricultural Association (UK), and their SE branch committee (UK) and as VP of the New Zealand AA. In addition, she is trained and experienced in beekeeping and permaculture techniques.

She is an embodied wisdom transformation guide, a Bulletproof coach, a nutritional therapist and is training in EFT tapping and culinary medicine (see her website Loving Life Coach). Lisa volunteers with a remote coherence healing group as an advanced student of Dr Joe Dispenza, and has a keen fascination with quantum physics and bio resonance fields

(watch this space - pun intended).

Since a young child, Lisa has felt very strong physical, emotional, spiritual and artistic connections to trees and the natural world, spending her early years surrounded by the forests, lakes and creatures skirting Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada. Although she spent most of her working career in England and New Zealand, she is now actively re-establishing that deep connection to trees in her homeland, temporarily working remotely for TTT, with the intention this connection can support physical and emotional healing, coming back to the wholeness and wonder of childhood again. But she's also partially based in England, visiting regularly when called by her lovely ol' trees and people there.

Christopher Stringer

Tutor and Assessor

Chris covers the trees on developments sites and tree protection element of the Level 4 diploma.

And he does it really well. He should - he lives and breathes local authority trees.

Relevant roles, qualifications and experience:

Arboricultural consultant at Shawyers (Eastleigh), specialising in tree risk AND he is a....
practicing tree officer for a number of local authorities,
started his career in forestry and habitat restoration,
is an experienced climber and operations manager - he has proven practical skills,
was an exemplar student, completing the level 4 diploma at Merrist Wood and...
obtained an MSc Arboriculture & Urban Forestry.
He also has a qualified background in marine biology.

Generally, Chris can be found paying incredible attention to detail, constantly improving, being a dedicated family man and trying to fit a pizza in to every day possible.

Chris Stringer

Ralph Baggs

Teacher and assessor

Ralph is an assessor and tutor for a number of topics across the Level 4 diploma. And he's mad crazy for all things trees.

Current roles and qualifications:

Freelance arborist,
Arboricultural consultant,
Award in Education and Teaching,
Level 4 diploma in Arboriculture,
Currently undertaking an MSC in urban forestry and arboriculture at Myerscough college.

Industry experience:

Qualified, self-employed arborist - climbing for domestic, commercial and utilities,
Past college lecturer at Merrist Wood - course management, academic teaching, and practical lessons,
Woodland management - working with woodland users, local authorities, and sponsors to manage a recreational facility within a woodland.

Ralph is an enthusiastic bike rider, most commonly found in the woodlands riding MTB's with friends. His research is focused on the harmonisation between urban forestry and recreation, sharing the joys of recreation with the adventurous community while improving the natural landscape we thrive in.

Dave Miller

Assessor

Dave is an assessor for the pest, diseases and disorders unit. And he's mad crazy for all things fungi.

Dave is a true outdoors man. After many years as a teacher, Dave took up the professional craft of dry stone walling in the north of England (a hardy job for the brave at heart). Deciding to further explore his love of trees and the outdoors, Dave branched out into arboriculture.

He is currently a Local Authority tree officer oop north.

His qualifications and experience include practical and academic arboriculture.

Dave is also a family man and dog lover, and the whole family gain the benefit of his extensive knowledge on long country walks.

Drew Bardell

Teacher and assessor

Drew is a talented arborist who has spent 20+ years in the field performing roles such as team leader and chainsaw instructor. Currently, Drew is in a consultancy role, having established Beith Tree Consultancy (BTC) in Galway, specialising in tree risk management and tree inspection training. BTC is an approved training provider for LANTRA Awards, and Drew is an approved freelance instructor for Basic Tree Survey and Inspection, Highway Tree Inspection, Professional Tree Inspection (PTI), and PTI refresher training.

In 2024, Drew was welcomed as a teacher and assessor at The Training Tree, where he specialises in internal investigations and tree inspections, amongst other topics. Drew says this role has been particularly enjoyable, as it provides an opportunity to give back to the arboricultural industry, and he is looking forward to the next intake!

Education: Drew has a solid educational background in arboriculture. He completed his diploma in arboriculture with The Training Tree, gaining extensive knowledge in tree biology, tree risk management and more. Drew holds various certifications in tree inspection & risk assessment, which are instrumental in his consultancy work. He is also qualified in training delivery and evaluation, graduating with a distinction for his FE & Training Award.

Drew is a passionate treecologist and an avid beekeeper.

Sally Schuck

Internal Quality Assurer (IQA)

Sally has worked in horticulture and arboriculture for over 20 years as a gardener, garden designer, tree surgeon, teacher, educational manger, NPTC assessor, arboricultural consultant and manager.

Trees and plants are her passion. She is never happier than when she is staring at trees or when her hands are in the dirt! She loves the outdoors and spending time with friends and family on walks, camping and going to music festivals.

Her position at The Training Tree is Internal Quality Assurer. This is a supportive role to all members of the team. It involves overseeing assessments, changes and submissions, liaising over policies and procedures and coordinating External Quality Assurance with the awarding body.

Are you the new amazing person to fill this space?

Freelance virtual admin assistant (VA) &

student services coordinator

E-mail learn@thetrainingtree.co.uk to initiate a conversation.