Safe Arborist Techniques Fund Grant Program

The Safe Arborist Techniques Fund (SATF) is a joint program of Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) and International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), established in 2015 to support research and development into the techniques and equipment that arborists use in climbing, rigging, and working on trees, and the means of identifying potential hazards, to provide a safer working environment. Grant-funded projects are expected to be completed within two years of initial fund disbursement with a maximum award value of $15,000. The 2026 SATF grants must support useful inquiry into the areas of worker safety and/or biomechanics, including investigation into tree failure mechanisms and causes, and offsetting practices and techniques to protect workers, residents and property. Sample topics include decay assessment, inoculating trees with root decay, response growth, mechanical pruning, lightning protection, support systems and cabling, machine-aided climbing, and biomechanics. TREE Fund welcomes research proposals from a wide range of academic and technical disciplines, both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The fund does not support grants to individuals, municipal tree surveys, tree planting programs, traditional forestry and timber production studies, or product testing primarily for manufacturer benefit. Research findings are expected to be freely and widely available, with recipients encouraged to publish in relevant professional journals and present at conferences.