Prof. Pricklethorn and Ashley Mulis of the Indiana Arborist Association took a moment to pose for The Reporter, and we honestly do now know which one of their shirts is the loudest. (Reporter photo)
Thanks to an educational grant from Duke Energy, Noblesville Parks played host to a free event last weekend at Forest Park.
The Indiana Arborist Association (IAA), a chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, held its 2025 Tree Climbing Competition and Professor Pricklethorn, a well-known youth educator, was also on hand to help teachers, parents, and children make the connection between science and everyday life by learning about the many good things that trees do for all of us every single day.
Associate Director of the Indiana Arborist Association Ashley Mulis told The Reporter she had seen several hundred people present throughout the day.
Professor Elwood Pricklethorn was very clear that he hails from “Canadia.” He told The Reporter that his morning presentation was attended by a “small but mightily engaged group of children of all ages.”
Professor Elwood Pricklethorn came all the way from “Canadia” to teach kids the way of the tree. (Reporter photo)
The professor had been at Noble Crossing Elementary School the day before the Forest Park event and saw students from the school who also came to the Saturday show at Forest Park.
“I could literally see them connecting the dots of what I was talking about with what trees give us, how they make us feel, how they work,” Pricklethorn said. “They’re very engaged. Actually, I had a couple of repeat customers because I was in Noble Crossing School yesterday and actually a couple came to see me again.”
In addition to the Forest Park and Noble Crossing events, the professor was also at Riverside Elementary addressing 400 sixth-grade students last week.
“They were very – again, very – engaged and I can always judge at the end by the questions,” Pricklethorn said. “I say, ‘You have any questions?’ And through some of the questions, I get kind of a litmus test of what they’ve learned. I’m like, ‘Yeah, they’re getting it.’”
Professor Pricklethorn has been educating young people on the value of trees for approximately 15 years.
“I worked on Toronto Island, which is a little island off of Toronto,” Pricklethorn said. “We would take a boat there every day and there was a school there. On Arbor Day and Earth Day, they would always say, because it was an arborist, come and talk to kids at school, about the trees. And I would stand as the city guy, talk about trees.”
All that changed after Hurricane Katrina.
“Getting involved with Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, going down to New Orleans, I decided to come up with a character and animate a little more,” Pricklethorn said. “It was easier to do that out of town. Then when I came back, I was like, this is it, it’s going to be Pricklethorn from here on in.”
Reporter photos
