Speaker Profile
Speaker Company
UF/IFAS Broward County Extension
Speaker Bio
Michael Orfanedes serves as Commercial Horticulture Agent IV for UF/IFAS Broward County Extension in Davie, FL. He is responsible for coordinating educational outreach and CEU programs for Broward’s diverse nursery, landscape and pest control industries. Mike has held this position since 2005 and received tenure and promotion from UF/IFAS in 2011.
Mike has been an ISA-certified arborist for 25 years and directs the county’s tree trimmer licensing, pesticide application and Green Industry Best Management Practices (GI-BMP) certification programs. In 2009, his extension program received the Outstanding Public Educational Program award from the Florida Urban Forestry Council (FUFC). In 2011, Mike was named FNGLA Outstanding Educator. In June of 2019 he received the Florida Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture’s Award for Excellence in Education. Mike is also a long-term ISA exam proctor and is an active member of the Landscape Inspectors’ Association of Florida (LIAF). He is the recipient of the 2021 Bob Brennan Research, Outreach, Organization and Teaching (R.O.O.T.) Award from the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Landscape Inspectors’ Association of Florida (LIAF).
Mike is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received his B.S. degree in Agronomy and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Weed Science. Mike holds two specialized certifications through the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA): Tree Hazard Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) and Prescription Pruning Qualification (PPQ). Mike is also an instructor for Florida Chapter ISA’s Prescription Pruning Qualification (PPQ) program.
