Deadline: 15-Sep-2025
The TREE Fund is inviting applications for its John Z. Duling Grant Program, which aims to provide start-up or seed funding for innovative research and technology transfer projects. These projects should have the potential to positively impact the daily work of arborists.
The grants are intended to support exploratory research in its early stages. This includes testing new ideas, using novel research approaches, or applying unique disciplinary or interdisciplinary expertise to address arboricultural challenges.
Funded projects must be completed within one to three years. Each grant may provide a maximum of $15,000, and no project can receive more than one award from this program.
Applicants can include costs such as institutional compensation, stipends, travel, transportation, equipment, materials, contract labor, and overheads (up to 10%). A minimum of 10% of the project cost must be covered by cash or in-kind contributions, which can include unrecovered institutional overhead.
Certain types of projects are not eligible for funding. These include individual grants, municipal tree surveys, tree planting programs, traditional forestry or timber production studies, and product testing that benefits a specific manufacturer.
The program is open to principal investigators, co-investigators, and student assistants. Reviewers will focus on the investigative team’s track record, the project’s relevance to the arboriculture industry, the strength of its research design, and its plan to share results with both scientific and professional communities.
Applicants must submit a project summary of up to 400 words, outlining the issue, its impact on arboriculture, and the goals of the research. A 250-word section should list expected tangible outputs such as publications and outreach materials, and up to five measurable outcomes related to urban forest design or management.
A literature review of up to 1,000 words must describe existing knowledge and previous research in the chosen topic area. The work plan, capped at 1,500 words, should clearly define the research scope, hypotheses, methods, and analyses. Any proprietary elements must be disclosed upfront, or TREE Fund may seek royalties from commercial outcomes.
A 300-word dissemination plan must detail how results will be communicated to both academic and professional audiences. TREE Fund expects research findings to be made freely available, while also supporting journal publication timelines.
If referencing past studies, applicants must cite sources in-text using the “Author(s), year” format, and list them alphabetically by the first author’s last name as per the American citation guidelines.
For more information, visit TREE Fund.
