Rob Shaut is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Casey Trees a Washington, DC-based non-profit. He was formerly the Tree Operations Director, managing a 30-person team responsible for planting 7,000 plus trees per year, while maintaining thousands more annually throughout Washington, D.C, Maryland, and Virginia. Rob also oversees the Casey Tree Farm, Education, Policy and Land Conservation, Development, and Communications departments. He is a Certified Arborist® through the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and he is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified.  

Rob holds a certification from the Professional Horticulture Program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Clemson University and Rob has studied at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, in the UK.

(ISA Cert. MA-6185A) 

Our guest co-host, Lou Meyer, began his Arboricultural journey in Cincinnati back in 2001 when he needed a summer job. Over the years he has worked in residential and commercial tree care, residential and commercial landscaping, and utility Arboriculture in Ohio and Maryland, where he currently resides. After working for a few smaller operations, Lou joined Davey Tree in 2013. He earned his ISA Arborist certification in 2014, and since then he has earned his Municipal and Utility Specialist Certs along with becoming TRAQ certified. Lou has served on the boards of the Mid Atlantic Chapter of the ISA and the Maryland Arborist Association. He lives in Ellicott City, just west of Baltimore, with his wife Molly and two children, Louie and Maggie. His favorite tree (this week) is a white oak.

When you ask Basil Camu what he thinks about himself, he'll tell you he is incredibly lucky. He has family he loves dearly, friends and colleagues who inspire him, and every day he gets to care for trees, soil, and flowers. He pursues his purpose and passions as the co-founder of Leaf & Limb, a tree care company in Raleigh, NC, and Project Pando, a non-profit that aims to connect people to trees. He is a Treecologist, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, Duke graduate, Wizard of Things, and author of the book From Wasteland to Wonder – Easy Ways We Can Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Seattle Times, Forbes, Gardenista, The Joe Gardener Show, The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast, A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach, and a number of other publications and podcasts.

When Basil is not having fun at work, he likes to pull invasive plants from his pocket forests, contemplate on his front porch, and go hiking with his family.