INTRODUCTION
The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Endowed Research Fund was established and funded by ISA in 2026. International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the professional practice of arboriculture through education, research, and advocacy. For over a century, ISA has helped professionals, allied professionals, public officials, and consumers worldwide recognize the economic, environmental, and societal benefits and values of trees and their care at a cost that demonstrates the wise stewardship of resources. The ISA Research Trust was established in 1976 by ISA to support groundbreaking research in areas of tree management and maintenance, planting, plant health, tree failure, soils, and environmental benefits of trees.
This fund will provide an initial grant award during the Spring Grant Cycle 2027. Details on fund priorities will be announced at a later time.
APPLICATION PROCESS
| January 1, 2027 | Letter of Intent (LOI) open |
| February 1, 2027 | Letter of Intent (LOI) submission due |
| February 15, 2027 | Notification of proposals advancing to full submissions |
| March 15, 2027 | Full submissions due |
| Mid-to-late May 2027 | Notification of selected grant recipients |
TREE Fund will accept LOIs only between January 1 and February 1, 2027. To apply, fill out an application on our online portal – by clicking here.
Letters of Intent (LOI) need to be completed before February 1, 2027. Your LOI must clearly identify the Principal Investigator and Institution who will be contracted for the work should your application be approved.
TREE Fund will evaluate whether your LOI concept meets all of our application criteria and is deemed to have a reasonable possibility of success given the year’s research priorities. If and only if your LOI is approved, TREE Fund will send you a notification and open the application to you beginning February 15, 2027. TREE Fund determinations on whether an LOI meets the application criteria are final and not negotiable. Full submission is due March 15, 2027.
To apply, fill out an application on our online portal – by clicking here.
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
Application Requirements can be found here.
Projects are expected to be completed within one to three years with a maximum grant award of $50,000 for 2027. No project may receive more than one award from this program.
TREE Fund does not fund the following types of projects, and will not accept applications for such work:
- Grants to individuals;
- Projects that are primarily municipal tree surveys or assessments;
- Tree planting programs;
- Studies focused on traditional forestry and timber production, agroforestry, and ecology and conservation of forested and other natural areas,
- Product testing primarily for the benefit of the company that manufactures the product.
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
It is TREE Fund’s explicit desire that research findings eventually be freely and widely available to any and all parties who may benefit from the author’s work. At the same time, TREE Fund recognizes the importance of academic and professional journal publications and will work with grant recipients to ensure that findings are disseminated in a manner that is cognizant of all parties’ schedules and needs. Recipients should inform TREE Fund when funded research findings are published or presented at conferences so that these accomplishments can be widely publicized. Recipients should also recognize the support provided by TREE Fund in their articles or presentations related to the funded project. Recipients are strongly encouraged to publish findings to relevant professional journals, i.e. Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Arboricultural Journal, Trees: Structure and Function, Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, Plant Pathology, HortScience, Horticultural Science, Sustainable Development, Landscape and Urban Planning, Journal of Urban Health, Environment and Urbanization, Urban Ecosystems, etc.