John Z. Duling Grant Program

The John Z. Duling Grant Program, funded by a bequest from John Z. Duling, supports innovative research and technology transfer projects beneficial to arborists. Grants of up to $25,000 are available for projects focusing on Propagation, Plant Selection, New Varieties, and Planting/Establishment, with an emphasis on Arboriculture Theory and Practice. Projects should be completed within one to three years, and applicants must meet specific eligibility and matching requirements.

Background
The John Z. Duling Grant Program was established and funded by a bequest from the estate of John Z. Duling of Indiana, a strong advocate of research who in 1972 proposed the establishment of the ISA Research Trust. The goal of this program is to provide start-up or seed funding to support innovative research and technology transfer projects that have the potential of benefiting the everyday work of arborists. John Z. Duling Grants may be used to support exploratory work in the early stages of untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas and approaches. Examples may include application of new approaches to research questions, or application of new expertise involving novel disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives.
Projects are expected to be completed within one to three years with a maximum grant award of $25,000. No project may receive more than one award from this program.
Focus Areas
This year, the Duling program will focus on Propagation, Plant Selection, Development of New Varieties, and Planting/Establishment.
The emphasis will be on Arboriculture Theory and Practice.

Eligibility

Eligible costs and matching requirement:Applicants may include institutional overhead costs in the project budget. TREE Fund caps such costs in its grant awards at 10% of total grant value.TREE Fund requires a match of at least 10% cash or in-kind.

Ineligibility

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 of individual tree species for the primary purpose of agricultural or timber/forest planting yield;
Commercial tree- or soil-related product testing primarily for the benefit of the company that manufactures the product.Current trustees of TREE Fund or any member of the family of any such trustee are ineligible to receive grants from TREE Fund.