About
The arborists behind PHC Rx.
PHC Rx was built by people who diagnose and treat trees for a living. The diagnostic logic, treatment timing, and guides on this site come from the two of them, and their names are on it.
Founder & co-owner, PHC Rx
Alex Shy
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist MA-5832B · ISA TRAQ · Maryland Licensed Tree Expert #2168
Alex Shy is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist (MA-5832B), ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified, and a Maryland Licensed Tree Expert (#2168). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resource Management from West Virginia University, graduating in 2015.
Alex's work sits at the intersection of arboriculture, plant health care, and business development for the tree care industry. As founder and president of Mobile Tree Spa LLC, he designed the MTS-180, an all-in-one mobile PHC workstation that equips arborists for soil decompaction, trunk injection, fertilization, and treatment in the field. Alongside the equipment, he built the MTS Operator Academy, a structured training program that takes new operators through licensing, diagnostics, phenology, application science, and the business of PHC.
Alex is also the founder and co-owner of PHC Rx, a plant health care diagnostic and prescription app developed with TIPCO. PHC Rx helps arborists identify pests and diseases, time treatments using growing degree days and phenology, and build defensible, science-based treatment plans. He also publishes the weekly Regional IPM Rx Report.
Education has been a constant in Alex's career. He taught the ISA Certified Arborist study course for six years, preparing arborists for certification. As a member of the ATCP board, he oversees the education committee and developed the organization's digital study and certification program.
His work is centered on raising the standard of plant health care: helping tree care companies move beyond removal-driven revenue by giving them the tools, training, and systems to offer high-value PHC services.
Past work
Alex has more than a decade of experience in arboriculture and plant health care. His experience spans diagnostic lab work, municipal tree management, business ownership, and professional education.
- Owner, Shy Tree (Sustainable Home and Yard, LLC), 2017–2026: a residential tree and plant health care company that he built and later sold
- Instructor, ISA Certified Arborist study course, 2019–2025
- Municipal Arborist, 2016–2020
- Plant Pathology Lab Technician, West Virginia University Extension Service, while in college
His career began in the plant pathology lab. Diagnosing tree and plant disease there gave him the scientific foundation that shaped his work in the field, his PHC programs, and ultimately the equipment, software, and training he builds for arborists today.
Certifications
- ISA Board Certified Master Arborist — MA-5832B
- ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ)
- Maryland Licensed Tree Expert — #2168
Education
- B.S., Forest Resource Management — West Virginia University, 2015
Areas of expertise
Arboriculture, plant health care (PHC), integrated pest management (IPM), plant pathology and diagnostics, tree risk assessment, municipal and urban forestry, trunk injection, soil decompaction and root zone management, degree-day and phenology-based treatment timing, PHC equipment design, and arborist training and certification prep.
Co-owner, J.J. Mauget Co. & TIPCO
Jordan Thompson
ISA Certified Arborist MA-7027A · VNLA Certified Horticulturist · Virginia Commercial Pesticide Applicator
Jordan Thompson is an ISA Certified Arborist (MA-7027A), VNLA Certified Horticulturist, Virginia Commercial Pesticide Applicator, and co-owner of J.J. Mauget Co. and TIPCO. She holds a Master of Science in Entomology from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Horticulture from Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Her professional work sits at the intersection of arboriculture, entomology, plant health care, and applied research. Jordan works closely with arborists, researchers, and industry professionals to evaluate practical approaches to tree health management, with particular emphasis on trunk injection, pesticide delivery, invasive pests and diseases, and the development of science-based plant health care programs.
Her graduate research at Virginia Tech investigated invasive Asian jumping worms and their relationships with soil biological processes, vegetation, microarthropod communities, and plant performance. The project incorporated field ecology, greenhouse experiments, soil enzyme analyses, and environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques to investigate the distribution and ecological effects of invasive Amynthas species.
Jordan continues to collaborate with Virginia Tech researchers on applied arboricultural research. Current work includes field studies evaluating trunk-injection technologies and fungicide treatments for oak wilt in Texas, as well as broader research into treatment efficacy, chemical distribution within trees, persistence, wound response, and tree health.
Her work is focused on strengthening the connection between university research and professional arboriculture: developing, testing, and communicating plant health care practices that can be applied in real-world landscapes.
Past work
Jordan has more than a decade of hands-on horticultural experience spanning nursery and garden center operations, organic vegetable production, landscape horticulture, and the care and management of high-value private and estate gardens.
- Professional Horticulturist, Oak Spring Garden Foundation
- Horticultural and estate garden work throughout Northern Virginia, including Goodstone Inn & Restaurant and Ayrshire Farm
- Back to Nature Landscapes
- Shenandoah Seasonal, organic vegetable farm
- Nursery and garden center experience, where she began her horticultural career after high school
Her early career was rooted in practical horticulture and plant care, providing the field experience that later developed into formal training in environmental horticulture, entomology, arboriculture, and plant health care.
Certifications
- ISA Certified Arborist — MA-7027A
- VNLA Certified Horticulturist
- Virginia Commercial Pesticide Applicator
Education
- M.S., Entomology — Virginia Tech
- B.S., Environmental Horticulture — Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2023
Areas of expertise
Arboriculture, plant health care, tree injection, entomology, invasive species, tree disease management, pesticide application, environmental horticulture, applied field research, soil ecology, and molecular/eDNA diagnostics.