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How do we get research into the hands of practitioners?
Alexander Martin, University of Toronto
Lukas Olson, University of British Columbia
Andrew Almas, University of British Columbia
The advancement of professional practice relies on arboriculture and urban forestry research. But how, as researchers, can we help get the research into the hands of practitioners? During 2023, we launched an online survey on knowledge translation, resulting in 1,088 responses from arborists and urban foresters in both Canada and the United States.
Arborists and urban foresters learn of industry updates through various sources. A challenge for researchers is that there is no one method of receiving information. The two most common methods of gaining knowledge were discussions with other industry professionals (41%) and conferences and trade shows (40%). The more popular conferences and trade shows included those hosted by their local ISA chapter (60%), followed by the international ISA conference (30%), the Canadian Urban Forestry Conference (24%), and the TCI Expo (21%). For those researchers seeking to get their research into the hands of industry professionals, presenting at ISA chapter conferences may be the best avenue.
Less conventional methods of research dissemination include social media groups (e.g., Facebook groups) (38%) and social media posts (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram) (36%). Even fewer arborists relied on webinars, instruction from trainers, or magazines like Arborist News or their local ISA chapter’s newsletter. Arborists infrequently relied on peer-reviewed journals. Journal paywalls posed a barrier for many respondents, and the most common “workaround” for paywalls was to not read the article. One respondent wrote, “you don’t know what you don’t know, so if the article is in a subscription I don’t see, then I don’t know what I am missing”.
Getting research into the hands of arborists and urban foresters is imperative to improving professional practice. A diversity of methods, social media, and industry conferences can help reach audiences far more successfully than publications.
You can read through the full results in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, including perceptions of virtual versus in-person conferences, the most commonly read journals and magazines, and frequently attended conferences. Thank you to the TREE Fund for supporting this research through sharing our survey.
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Lead Donors
We are deeply grateful to the following people and organizations whose accumulated contributions to TREE Fund in 2024 surpassed $2,500 or more as of September:
ArborMetrics Solutions, Inc.
CM ArborCare, LLC
Danny Lippi
ECI Consulting
Eocene Environmental Group
Indiana Arborist Association
Iron Rose Foundation
ISA Michigan
Jeff K. Iles
KASK America Inc.
Kenneth A. Knight Consulting
New Jersey Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture
Pamela K. Hendricksen
Stuart M. Crow
Wisconsin Arborist Association
See the full list of lead donors who make our vital tree research and education work possible on our website.
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Free Webinar Series update
Back again this year, TREE Fund is proud to partner with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System to bring you free education offerings.
Next Webinar
November 5, 2024. Noon CT.
Presenter: Dr. Greg Dahle and PhD student Cindy Devlin Musick
Presentation: Tree Caused Outages – What we know and what we have learned.
Registration for this webinar is now available at this link. See our Webinar page for more information. https://treefund.org/webinars
TREE Fund’s 1-hour webinars are free and offer 1.0 CEU credit for live broadcasts from the International Society of Arboriculture and the Society of American Foresters. Registration and information will become available on our website approximately two weeks before each webinar date.
Upcoming Webinars (registration opens about two weeks prior)
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December 17, 2024. Dr. Rebecca Abney and Ms. Holly Campbell. Biochar for Tree Growth and Water Quality: Exploring Potential in Urban and Disturbed Soils
Missed a webinar? Watch it anytime on our website.
CEU Credit for Recorded Webinar
TREE Fund offers ISA CEU credits for one recorded webinar: "Loading of a Tie-in Point While Climbing." If you missed this webinar, you can now watch the recording and earn ISA CEU credits by completing a 20-question quiz with 80% accuracy. Learn more on our website.
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TREE Fund Scholarship Update
We are connecting with some of TREE Fund’s recent scholarship recipients to see how they are coming along in their studies and their careers.
Today, we feature Taylor Sirois, who received the Will Nutter Memorial Scholarship in 2023:
When I discovered the field of arboriculture as a freshman in high school, I had no clue that just four years later, I’d be continuing my studies in the beautiful Adirondack Park of New York. Now, as I start my second year as a dual major in Ecological Forest Management and Arboriculture and Landscape Management at Paul Smith’s College, I know there’s no better place — and no better set of majors — for me.
So far, my time at Paul Smith’s has been filled with endless opportunities to learn, grow, and explore. At Paul Smith’s, the great outdoors are your classroom — and I’ve taken advantage of every new experience that has been presented to me. Last year, as a freshman, I took a step out of my comfort zone in traditional sports and tried something new: the Woodsmen’s Team, where I developed a new passion for timber sports. I worked hard to develop new skills in chopping, climbing, crosscut, and more, and I eventually earned Rookie of the Year for my performance. Now, I’m the secretary of the team, and I’m looking forward to further developing my timber skills this year.
As an Ecological Forest Management major, my first year at Paul Smith’s did not end in the spring. Instead, I had the amazing opportunity to take part in a six-week summer session this summer. During the session, I was able to learn about field surveying, forest mensuration, and I even earned my Game of Logging I and II Certificates.
However, my learning experiences did not stop there. After the summer session, I stayed on campus to help start up a pilot program for arboriculture students to work on campus as student-workers, called the Urban Forestry Micro Crew. Throughout July, I worked with my arboriculture instructor and one other arboriculture student on about 50 trees throughout Paul Smith’s campus. This included removals of dead, hazardous, and diseased trees; pruning, such as the vista of the shoreline of our beautiful St. Regis Lake; and the clearance of walkways. All of these projects required me to use skillful techniques like rigging, climbing, and felling — and all of them desperately needed to be done.
Paul Smith’s has such a beautiful campus, with students learning so much in these wonderful programs — so it only makes sense for us to put our skills to good use. Because of our success this summer, the micro crew is expected to start up and employ students for the spring 2025 semester. Through this pilot program, I was able to improve my confidence and skills as an arborist. I am so proud that we were able to improve this beautiful campus that many of us call home, and I cannot wait to see where it takes the Arboriculture program.
As I enter the second month of my sophomore year at Paul Smith’s, I am ready to continue learning and making an impact in this wonderful community. Paul Smith’s is a place where love for hard work and the outdoors simply outshines traditional pursuits, and I am so lucky to call it home.
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TREE Fund Grant Applications Update
We are very thankful to have received 117 grant applications during our Fall 2024 Grant Cycle. The number of applications submitted means that our Research Committee will be hard at work to select the most valuable topics and projects for each of our six available grants.
After our ad-hoc committees for each grant program are able to review all of the applications submitted, they will rank, choose, and submit their final recommendations to the TREE Fund board for approval and the grant recipients will be announced in early 2025.
TREE Fund is always looking for volunteers to serve on the research ad-hoc committees to help guide decisions on grant making. If you are interested in being considered to serve on a future committee, email Heath Hupke your background and qualifications for consideration.
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TREE Fund Liaison Spotlight
Every ISA chapter recruits a volunteer to serve as their TREE Fund Liaison. These volunteers spend extra time attending meetings, spreading the word about TREE Fund happenings, events, and news, and often being the point person for TREE Fund fundraisers at their local chapters.
We'd like to highlight these wonderful volunteers and let you know a little more about them.
New England Chapter Liaison: Paul Sellers
Paul Sellers Horticulture (recently retired as Manager of Vegetation Management at Eversource Energy)
Third year as a liaison
Q: Why do you enjoy being an arborist?
A: I gained an interest in trees from my youth as a Boy Scout. I’ve always appreciated the forms, colors, and uniqueness trees and plants have. After 40 years in the tree care industry, I’m still blown away that I’ve been able to make this my vocation.
Q: Why did you choose to be the liaison for your chapter?
A: We had several people fill this role in the NE Chapter and they generally were part of the Tour des Trees. I’m still riding and it was a good time to step up.
Q: Why do you feel the need to communicate TREE Fund’s mission and events to chapter members?
A: Ensuring chapter members and those that donate to TREE Fund have current information on how and what is being accomplished is critical to the role of the TREE Fund.
Q: What would you like to learn more about in your field or what research would you like to see done?
A: We are challenged to find and retain tree workers. Over the last several years, I have heard this concern as it impacts the commercial, utility, and municipal sectors of arboriculture. We need a better understanding why we are not seeing improvement in the work force and how we can improve recruitment.
Q: Why is new research important to you?
A: After four decades in the tree care industry I’ve seen practices we thought were correct but, with research, we discover the how and why to proper arboriculture practices. We are working with one of the most dynamic, diverse growing mediums and only now have scratched the “bark” of our knowledge.
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Tour des Trees Conquers New England Coast
This year's Tour des Trees proved to be another ride filled with memories, friendships new and old, beautiful sights, and plenty of spreading knowledge about the importance of tree research.
Seventy-nine riders spent five days in New England, starting off with a dinner under the big top at the Bartlett Arboretum, site of the Bartlett family homestead, where the International Society of Arboriculture was originally formed. We celebrated ISA's 100th anniversary by planting a tree on the grounds with representatives from ISA, Bartlett Tree Experts, the Bartlett Arboretum, and the Bartlett family.
From there, riders traversed through 430 miles of New England roads and paths, continuing to meet with different groups along the way, talking about trees and how we can better maintain our urban forests. This also included several tree plantings, five PEP Rallies with Professor Pricklethorn (in front of over 300 kids, i.e. "future arborists), educational tours, and a final tree planting in Roger Williams Memorial, a national park in Providence.
Collectively- along with 38 virtual participants that participated from home- this year's Tour was able to raise over $330,000 for TREE Fund's mission! Thank you to all our riders, supporters, sponsors, and donors for making this another ride we won't forget.
For photos of the week, visit our Photo Album.
The 2025 Tour des Trees will take place in Michigan and dates and information will be released soon.
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TREE Fund Annual Report 2023
Below you will find information regarding our Annual Report for 2023. At the meeting of TREE Fund's Board on September 5, 2024, the Trustees accepted the independent financial audit for our Fiscal Year 2023, which ended on December 31, 2023. Following in-depth fieldwork and analysis, the auditors provided an "unqualified opinion," which is the desired outcome, indicating that our audited statements fairly and accurately represent TREE Fund's financial positions and internal control systems, in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles.
With this important annual step complete, we are pleased to release our Annual Report of Activities for 2023, summarizing programmatic highlights, acknowledging lead donors, and presenting a high-level overview of our balance sheet. Click here to view the 2023 Annual Report.
2023 Highlights at a glance:
- $35,000 in new scholarships awarded.
- $166,688 in new grants awarded.
- Over $110,000 paid out for previous years' grants.
- Over 5,000 webinar attendees.
- 77 riders at the Tour des Trees participating in 10 outreach activities and raising over $365,800.
In keeping with our commitment to organizational transparency, once the annual IRS Form 990 is filed, all of our audited 2023 financial documents will be posted to our website for public access and review.
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THANK YOU
TREE Fund Crown Partners!
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TREE Fund
Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund
1755 Park St. Suite #200, Naperville, IL 60563
(630) 369-8300
treefund@treefund.org
www.treefund.org
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TREE Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to support scientific discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in the fields of arboriculture and urban forestry. | | | | |
