News Release – May 13, 2024

May 13, 2024 – Stamford, CT – The Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories were recently honored with a Canopy Award for Partnership by Casey Trees. 

Established by Bartlett Tree Experts in 1926, the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories are located on 350 acres in Charlotte, North Carolina. Staffed with a team of 16 PhDs in fields such as plant pathology, entomology, and horticulture, the laboratories provide industry-leading research and diagnostic services to advise Bartlett arborists on the latest advances in arboriculture and urban forestry for the benefit of clients. 

Established in 2001, Casey Trees is a Washington DC-based nonprofit committed to restoring, enhancing, and protecting the tree canopy of the nation’s capital. Now in its 10th year, Casey Trees’ annual Canopy Awards honor the people and partners working to restore, enhance, and protect DC’s tree canopy. 

In recognizing the Bartlett Tree Research Labs for their partnership, the organization said in a statement, “Casey Trees has been partnering with Bartlett for many years, both at Casey Trees Farm and in the field. This partnership has strengthened Casey Trees’ capacity to test different interventions that maximize tree health, improve tree planting, and care practices, and inform local and regional responses to pests and diseases – all to ensure our tree canopy continues to thrive and grow.”

Kelby Fite, Vice President and Director of Research, and Chris Riley, Research Scientist and Technical Support 
Specialist, accepted the award on behalf of Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories. Fite said, “I would certainly like to thank Mr. Robert Bartlett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bartlett Tree Experts, who provides us all within Bartlett the opportunity to have careers in science and drive the industry forward.”

Riley described the beneficial nature of the partnership between Bartlett Tree Experts and Casey Trees, saying, “Some current research that we are working on at the Bartlett Research Laboratories and in combination with Casey trees seeks to better understand what factors influence tree survival across the District of Columbia. We are interested in factors that might aid in planting establishment, survival after a few years, a whole number of different things, ranging from pest management to soil care to everything in between.”

Riley added, “The most immediate successes that I've witnessed in collaborating and partnering with Casey Trees has to be the increased communication among our different organizations that share similar interests and passions in the space of arboriculture and urban forestry.” 

A video featuring Fite and Riley discussing the award-winning partnership can be found here:

2024 Canopy Award for Partnership – Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories