Utility Arborist Research Fund Grant Program

The Utility Arborist Research Fund Grant Program, managed by the TREE Fund and UAA, offers $50,000 in funding for 2024 to support vital research in utility tree care. The program prioritizes proposals focusing on employee safety, service reliability, and regulatory compliance. Grants range from $10,000 to $50,000, with the aim of addressing pressing issues in vegetation management. Applications are welcomed from those aligned with these priorities, promoting safety and efficiency in the utility industry.

Background
Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) and Utility Arborist Association (UAA) established the Utility Arborist Research Fund (UARF) in 2010 to finance work with real importance and benefit to utility tree care professionals. In 2017, the UARF endowment reached its $1.0 million activation goal, and the first grant under this program was awarded in 2018. TREE Fund manages the UARF endowment and administers all research grants awarded, while UAA’s Research Committee advises TREE Fund with respect to research priorities. Given the immense scope of annual utility arboriculture work on a global basis, if UARF-funded research can generate even a 1.0% reduction in tree-related outages, customer complaints, vegetation management complexity or emergency tree work, the financial, public relations, and worker safety returns on investment will be immense.
2025 Funding Levels And Priorities
A total of $50,000 is available for award in 2025; the minimum award considered will be $10,000, the maximum $50,000, so that one to five grants may be awarded, subject to receipt of compliant applications. Work funded by UARF is expected to be completed within one to three years of award.
For 2025, TREE Fund and UAA are seeking UARF proposals guided by the prioritized summary of research topics polled from our wider membership, prioritized as follows, with equal consideration given to these topics:

• Employee, Contractor and Public Safety (including training relevance and quality, and training frequency);
• Service Reliability (including tree failure and tree worker experience); and
• Regulatory Compliance (including training and process improvement).

While TREE Fund and UAA encourage applications that are aligned with these priorities, both organizations also understand that social, exploratory and other research questions may arise. TREE Fund and UAA are thus open to evaluating any proposal related to vegetation management in the utility industry.

Ineligibility

UARF may not be used to fund to following types of research: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.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.