Meet the Team!

The Independent Tree team provides quality tree services throughout Northeast Ohio

Alan Kraus

Founder
ISA Certified Arborist OH-5219A
ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified
TCIA Certified Tree Care Safety Professional #2269

About Alan

Alan Kraus was first introduced to tree work in high school while landscaping and was quickly hooked. In 1995, he began to focus his abilities on arboriculture and has been working with trees and shrubs ever since. Alan founded Independent Tree with the goal of providing quality tree work for his local community in the industry he loves.

Alan works hard to keep up to date on arboriculture education so that we can bring our clients the best the industry has to offer. He also conducts educational seminars for various organizations. Alan helped form the Ohio Independent Arborist Association, OIAA out of a need for more local arborist education and training.

Outside of Independent Tree, Alan is passionate about history; he loves traveling, reading, music, skateboarding, and spends most of his time outdoors.

Lisa Carrelli-Kraus

Office Manager | Marketing Manager | Partner in Crime

About Lisa

Lisa is the Office Manager here at Independent Tree and partner in crime to Alan Kraus. Lisa received her BFA in art from Kent and is responsible for most of Independent Tree’s design work and marketing. Outside of the office, Lisa is a textile artist, who loves to garden, travel, backpack, roller skate, and spend time with her husband, Alan, and their dogs.

Will Carr

Arborist Representative | Plant Health Care Manager
ISA Certified Arborist ML-0425A
ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified
Certified Landscape Technician (CLT/LIC)
Certified Pesticide Applicator

About Will

Will got his first taste of the green industry back in high school where he worked his summers at a landscape firm. Will has a B.S. in Physics with a minor in Chemistry from Kent State. His desire to specialize in arboriculture grew, landing him at our doorstep; where Will is one of our arborist representatives doing sales for clients and also currently manages our Plant Health Care department.

In his free time, Will keeps busy doing recreational tree climbing and rock climbing, he practices Jiu-Jitsu, takes frequent long day hikes on his weekends, and is an avid reader.

Dennis Boyd

Arborist Representative
ISA Certified Arborist OH-6193A
Certified Tree Care Safety Professional 02360
ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified
ODA Licensed Commercial Applicator

About Dennis

Dennis was introduced to tree work in 2005 at Morningstar Tree Service in Newbury, where he worked for 8 years. He then spent some time working in the public sector at the Metroparks and Geauga County while also running his own tree service.

Dennis is active in the ISA tree climbing championships, and in his free time, Dennis enjoys golfing & camping with his family.

We have known Dennis for a long time as a talented & honest professional, and we are excited to have him on our team.

NIC RATAICZAK

Senior Crew Leader | Climber | Operator
ISA Certified Arborist OH-6542A
TCIA Certified Tree Care Safety Professional

About Nic

Nic is our senior employee here, joining Independent Tree in the spring of 2007 on the grounds crew. Taking quickly to climbing, he worked himself up to be one of our main climbers, as well as a crew leader. Nic is an ISA Certified Arborist and a TCIA Certified Tree Care Safety Professional (CTSP) and helps with our safety and training program. Nic also competes in the Ohio Climbing Championships.

Outside of work, you are likely to still find Nic up in a tree; his other interests include skateboarding, traveling, being outdoors, and spending time with his family and wife.

LINUS GLADY

Crew Leader | Climber | Plant ID Guru
ISA Certified Arborist OH-6986A
Certified Pesticide Applicator

About Linus

Linus came on as an intern from the Tri-C Plant Science and Landscape Technology program and is now one of our crew leaders. Linus is a certified pesticide applicator and has completed his application to become a certified arborist. Linus’s plant ID is top-notch and he loves sharing his knowledge with his co-workers and clients.

Aside from being an arborist, Linus enjoys canoeing and fishing, and he coaches High School hockey.

Katelynn Konik

Climber trainee | Operator | Plant Health Care Technician
Certified Pesticide Applicator

About Katelynn

Katelynn’s interest in the green industry started gardening and out of a desire to be self-sustaining. She followed her path, first in agriculture and then leading her to arboriculture and Independent Tree. Katelynn is one of our Plant Health Care technicians and fills in on the tree crew; she loves the diversity that each position gives her, from the individual work of Plant Health Care to working as a team on the tree crew. Above all, she loves to be learning and working outside in nature constantly.

In her free time, Katelynn loves gardening, kayaking, hiking, tree climbing, singing and writing.

John Mackay

Climber | Plant Health Care Technician
ISA Certified Arborist OH-6996A
Certified Pesticide Applicator

About John

John came on as an intern from TRI-C’s Plant Science and Landscape Technology program. In addition to his Associate's degree from Tri-C, John has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in biology from The University of Akron. John is a licensed pesticide applicator and one of our Plant Health Care Technicians, and a climber.

In his free time, John does a lot of propagation, whether it’s starting plants from seeds or cuttings, he loves “geeking” out on plants.

Nick Koeth, Crew Leader / Climber at Independent Tree in Newbury, Ohio

Nic Koeth

Crew Leader | Climber
ISA Certified Arborist OH-6811A

About Nick

Nick got his start in the green industry working in the nursery and landscape field. Nick is one of our crew leaders and always eager to lend a helping hand; you will be hard-pressed to find him standing idle; he enjoys hard work and being outside.

In his free time, Nick is a musician/ singer/ songwriter, playing guitar in a couple of bands; he also enjoys skateboarding.

Jeff Spurlock

Climber

About Jeff

Jeff started recreational climbing when he was 24 and started to realize that he could do it for a living. In 2012 he went down to Louisiana to do tree work after Hurricane Isaac and when he came back north started doing tree work full time. Jeff is a climber and works on both tree maintenance & removal; he loves climbing large trees & taking in the views.

Jeff still recreational climbs in his free time and is involved in music, playing guitar.

Donnie Drebus, Ground Crew/ Climber Trainee at Independent Tree in Newbury, Ohio

Donny Drebus

Operator | Climber Trainee

About Donny

Donnie came to us as a seasonal employee during his summer break from Hiram college. He loved it so much, that he came back the next year and decided to stick around and we are glad he did. Donnie will be graduating from Hiram with a degree in Business Management and aspires to grow into a management/sales position. Right now, Donnie loves working outside running a saw and equipment and is a climber trainee.

Outside of tree work, Donnie loves fly fishing and hanging out with his dog.

Lily Rice

Plant Health Care Technician
ODA Licensed Commercial Applicator

About Lily

Lily received her BS in Biology from OSU in 2020. She joined the Independent Tree team in the spring of 2021 as a Plant Health Care Technician and is truly passionate about all things plant & biology-related

Outside of work, you are likely to find Lily in the woods or doing something with plants; she is an amateur ecologist & enjoys plant propagation & preservation.

Ryan Shea

Climber Trainee | Ground Crew

About Ryan

Ryan has always been around or in trees in some form his whole life. He heard about Independent Tree and that we train and realized it would be great to get paid for something he already loves. Ryan is focusing on tree climbing and rootwork.

When not at Independent Tree, Ryan enjoys the outdoors; fishing, camping, and bushcraft. Ryan also writes fiction short stories and plays music with his coworkers Austin & Donny.

Austin Hunt

Climber Trainee | Ground Crew

About Austin

Austin always thought that tree climbing looked cool and would be a fun career. After studying neuroscience at Kent State, he decided trees were more his thing. Austin joined our team in the fall of 2021 and is focused on climbing and equipment operations.

Aside from tree work, Austin is a musician and, plays guitar, and regularly gets together with his coworkers Ryan & Donnie to jam.

Tiffany Fibbich

Staff Accountant

About Tiffany

Tiffany has a BS in accounting from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. She has over 10 years of experience in accounting, and we are happy to put that expertise to work here at Independent Tree.

When she’s not crunching numbers, Tiffany enjoys gardening, spending time with her dogs, and renovating their house with her husband.

Chloe Mella

Customer Service

About Chloe

Chloe is the friendly voice on the other end of the phone here at Independent Tree. If you are a client, it is likely you have spoken with Chloe at some point. Chloe is always eager to lend a helping hand and does so with a smile. Chloe has a BA in Communication. Outside of the office,

Chloe enjoys spending time outdoors, especially in the summer, and also enjoys walking and hiking all year round, decorating, and spending time with her fiance and family.

Interested in working with us? Join the team!

The Independent Tree Service team's group photo

Serving Eastern Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage & Lake Counties since 1995