Bob Skiera Memorial Fund – Building Bridges Initiative & John P. White Grant

Grant Opportunity: Bob Skiera Memorial Fund – Building Bridges Initiative & John P. White Grant

This grant program honors the legacy of Bob Skiera, a trailblazing urban forester, and supports research and collaborations that strengthen urban forestry’s role in community and planning processes. Administered by the TREE Fund in partnership with the Skiera Family, Wisconsin Arborist Association, and International Society of Arboriculture, it provides funding for interdisciplinary engagement between arborists, planners, engineers, and other urban stakeholders.

🎯 Program Objectives

The Building Bridges Initiative, backed by the Bob Skiera Memorial Fund (USD 25,000) and the John P. White Memorial Fund (USD 5,000), offers a total of up to USD 30,000 per project to fund collaborative research or practice-based initiatives. The goal is to foster communication and collaboration among urban foresters and professionals in disciplines like civil engineering, soil science, public works, and wildlife ecology.

Current grant cycles focus on projects that:

• Enable urban forest managers and arborists to communicate value across sectors

• Center “Nature-Based Solutions,” ecosystem services, or health and social benefits

• Inform or shape policy formation and program implementation

• Combine quantitative or qualitative research with collaborative engagement

✅ Eligibility & Application Process

• Eligible Applicants: Organisations and research institutions, including interdisciplinary teams from forestry, urban planning, ecology, policy, and engineering.

• Ineligible: Grants are not awarded to individuals. Applications focused solely on tree planting, municipal surveys, timber production, or for product testing benefit are not supported.

The application process requires:

1. Submission of a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) (approx. 100 words), between 1 Aug and 15 Sep 2025

2. Only approved LOIs receive a numbered application form to proceed

3. Full applications are accepted between 1 Aug and 1 Oct 2025

📋 Evaluation Criteria

Applications are reviewed first for eligibility and LOI alignment, then by the TREE Fund’s Research and Education Committee, using evaluation criteria such as:

• Investigator experience and research track record

• Contribution of the project to the arboriculture profession

• Methodological clarity and rigor (including research design, hypotheses)

• Dissemination strategy for both academic and practitioner communities

• Potential for impact, partnerships, policy relevance, and interdisciplinary collaboration

🗓 Key Dates

💡 Tips for a Competitive Application

• Craft a strong LOI: Briefly state your project concept, lead institution, and value in six to eight powerful sentences.

• Center collaboration: Show how arborists will engage with planners, engineers, ecologists, or other stakeholders.

• Showcase impact: Define community or policy benefits linked to urban forest outcomes.

• Plan dissemination: Identify how findings will reach both practitioners (e.g. municipal staff) and research communities via reports, webinars, or outreach.

• Stick to instructions: LOIs exceeding the word limit may be disqualified.

🔄 Strategic Benefits

• Opportunity to access funding specifically for interdisciplinary research

• Platform to build municipal and planning partnerships around urban forestry

• Visibility in professional and academic networks through funded outputs

• Pathway for early-career researchers to build credibility via collaborative projects

Past recipients have explored topics such as the value of mature trees in stormwater management, barriers to equitable urban forest access, and cross-sector policy dialogues focused on nature-based urban design.

🖱 Apply Online

Are you ready to propose a collaborative research or practice initiative that connects urban forest professionals with other urban sectors?

✅ Apply Online Now

Submit your LOI by 15 September 2025, then complete the full application by 1 October 2025 once invited. Be sure to include institutional credentials, project outline, timeline, and a dissemination strategy.

📝 Summary Table