A man with a gray beard wearing glasses, a blue and white checkered shirt, and blue jeans stands between two large tree trunks.

Everybody has a tree story.

W. Jim Cortese is an arborist, forestry consultant, and lifelong student of trees based in Knoxville, Tennessee. A graduate of the University of Tennessee in Forest Resource Management, he spent more than four decades in arboriculture, serving as president of Tree Injection Products Company and Cortese Tree Specialists.

Over his career, Cortese consulted on thousands of tree-preservation cases and hundreds of appraisals across the Southeast. He has lectured widely on plant health care, historic trees, and urban forestry, and has been recognized for his contributions to environmental stewardship and tree preservation.

Cortese is a co-founder of the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum and has helped identify and document historic and heritage trees in Tennessee. He was a founding member and third president of the Tennessee Urban Forest Council, and served on the first Knoxville Tree Board, including more than a decade as its president.

His book, John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales, is believed to be the only anthology devoted entirely to stories about trees, bringing together history, folklore, and human experiences connected to the natural world.

In 2026, the book received the American Society for Horticultural Science’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Human Issues in Horticulture.

Investing in the Next Generation

Through the Cortese Arboriculture Scholarship, Jim supports students preparing for careers in forestry and arboriculture. It reflects his lifelong belief that caring for trees begins with investing in the people who will care for them next.

Two college students sitting on outdoor steps, looking at a map and a book, smiling, with other students sitting in the background under trees.
A young man with dark hair, wearing a teal shirt and tan pants, is sitting outdoors in a garden. He is smiling and using a soil meter on a potted plant tree. A laptop is open on a wooden table in front of him, and there are trees and a building in the background.
A large tree with lush green leaves in a park on a sunny day, with people sitting on the grass underneath and walking along paths.
Learn About the Scholarship