Apply for Hyland R. Johns Grant Program

Established in 1995 to honor one of the leaders in the arboriculture industry and a founder of the ISA Research Trust.

Research Priorities

• In 2024, TREE Fund’s Hyland Johns Grant program will be focused specifically on the following areas:
  • Urban forest management to include:
    • Inventory techniques, assessment, interpretation, etc.
    • Pruning, removal, relocation, etc.
    • Surveys to inform decision making (Tree surveys will be considered if they address a research question, inform decision making, or otherwise have applicability that can be generalized beyond the tree population being measured).
  • Ecosystem Services to include:
    • Interactions with other biota (birds, pollinators, nuisance plants/animals, etc)
    • Impact of weather events (storm water runoff, increased temperature, wind tolerance, etc.)
  • Tree health to include:
    • Identification and management of insects, diseases, viruses, phytoplasmas, and other biotic agents that are known or suspected of affecting tree health.
    • Inadvertent impact of chemicals used for other purposes (e.g. herbicides, deicing salt, airborne pollutants) on urban tree health.
    • Role of environment on predisposition of trees to other biotic agents.
  • Decay to include:
    • Identification, assessment, and mitigation of biotic organisms that cause decay in trees.
    • New and/or improved means to determine the presence in trees or to determine their threat to structural integrity.

Funding Information

• Projects are expected to be completed within three to five years, with a maximum award value of $25,000. No project may receive more than one award from this program.

Eligibility Criteria

• TREE Fund welcomes research proposals and applications from a wide range of academic and technical disciplines, of both a qualitative and a quantitative nature. 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.
• TREE Fund does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, disability or national or ethnic origin.
• Current trustees of TREE Fund or any member of the family of any such trustee are ineligible to receive grants from TREE Fund.
• Prospective applicants can be sure that reviewers will place highest emphasis on:
  • Prior record of accomplishment by the investigative team. (Scientists early in their research careers may wish to include others with more research experience as active co-investigators or advisors)
  • Potential contribution of the project to the arboricultural industry.
  • Approach, including statement of hypotheses and experimental design.
  • Dissemination plan to the scientific community and to tree care professionals.

For more information, visit TREE Fund.