Growing the Future of Tree Care: The Cortese Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Scholarship
How an endowment established by W. Jim Cortese is helping University of Tennessee forestry students prepare for careers caring for the trees in our communities.
In 2016, W. Jim Cortese established the Cortese Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Scholarship Endowment at the University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources. The goal was straightforward: help students prepare for careers caring for the trees that shape our neighborhoods, parks, campuses, streets, and public spaces.
For Jim, the scholarship is a natural extension of a career built around arboriculture, forestry, education, and mentorship. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a forestry degree in 1976 and went on to spend nearly five decades working in tree care, consulting, teaching, and community leadership. The endowment turns that experience into an opportunity for the people who will carry the profession forward.
An Investment in People and in Communities
Arboriculture and urban forestry involve much more than trimming or removing trees. The field brings together tree biology, public safety, environmental stewardship, planning, communication, and sound professional judgment. Its practitioners make decisions that affect property owners, neighborhoods, historic landscapes, and the long-term health of community tree canopies.
That work is becoming even more important. Communities need knowledgeable professionals who can help trees withstand storms, heat, development pressure, disease, and the other challenges of growing in built environments.
Education gives future arborists and urban foresters a strong scientific foundation. Mentorship helps them apply that knowledge with care. Together, the two can prepare students not only to perform tree work, but also to understand why each decision matters.
Jim explored that connection in his article, “The Part of Tree Work That Must Be Passed Down,” where he wrote about the judgment, humility, observation, safety, and responsibility that experienced professionals can share with younger people entering the field. The scholarship supports the same larger purpose: passing knowledge and opportunity from one generation to the next.
A Growing Endowment
Friends, colleagues, and former clients have joined Jim in building the endowment. As of 2025, it had grown to more than $56,000 and had awarded thousands of dollars in scholarship support.
Those awards help reduce the cost of a University of Tennessee education for students pursuing forestry and related careers. In some cases, that support can help make it possible for a student to complete a degree. Because the fund is endowed, contributions are designed to create an impact that continues well beyond a single academic year.
The next goal is to grow the endowment to $70,000 and beyond. A larger fund can provide more support for students in the years ahead and help strengthen the future workforce of arboriculture and urban forestry.
Meet the Scholarship Recipients
From the 2020-21 through 2025-26 academic years, the Cortese Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Scholarship supported nine student awards benefiting eight University of Tennessee forestry students:
| Academic year | Recipient | Hometown | Major |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Thomas Hartzell | Knoxville | Forestry |
| 2024–25 | Kaitlyn Taylor | Madisonville | Forestry |
| 2023–24 | James Miller | Knoxville | Forestry |
| 2022–23 | James Miller | Knoxville | Forestry |
| 2021–22 | Jacob Hurst | Strawberry Plains | Forestry |
| 2021–22 | Kayla Stuart | Knoxville | Forestry |
| 2021–22 | Neal Vercler | Mascot | Forestry |
| 2020–21 | Korey Kinsler | Morristown | Forestry |
| 2020–21 | John Sise | Seymour | Forestry |
The recipient list reflects students from Knoxville and surrounding East Tennessee communities, including Madisonville, Strawberry Plains, Mascot, Morristown, and Seymour. It also shows that support can continue across academic years: James Miller received the scholarship in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
A Legacy Measured in What Comes Next
A scholarship is not simply a financial award. It is a vote of confidence in a student and an investment in the places that student may one day serve.
The recipients of the Cortese Scholarship are preparing to enter a profession that touches nearly every community. Their future work may include caring for street trees, managing public forests, protecting historic trees, improving safety, advising property owners, or helping cities plan healthier and more resilient landscapes.
“A scholarship is not a tree, but it works like one. You plant it because you believe someone will need its shade later.”
For Jim, helping students take root in arboriculture and urban forestry is one way to give back to a profession that shaped his own life. For donors, it is a chance to help knowledge, professionalism, and respect for trees continue growing into the next generation.
How to Support the Scholarship
Gifts to the Cortese Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Scholarship Endowment directly support students at the University of Tennessee.
Learn more or make a contribution: https://advanceutia.tennessee.edu/cortese
To stay connected with W. Jim Cortese or inquire about speaking opportunities, visit JimCortese.com or contact him at Ji*********@*****ok.com.
Readers can also explore Cortese’s recent media and book updates, including his feature in Real Simple, his tree heat stress feature connected to The Pioneer Woman, his reflection on receiving the ASHS Distinguished Achievement Award for John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales, and an excerpt from John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales to experience the storytelling, history, and human connection at the heart of the book.
To stay connected with W. Jim Cortese, read more Tree Stories, purchase John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales, or inquire about speaking opportunities, visit JimCortese.com or contact him at Ji*********@*****ok.com.