FAU Jupiter Named A '2015 Tree Campus USA' for Sixth Year
FAU’s Jupiter has received certification as a 2015 Tree Campus USA for the sixth year in a row by the Arbor Day Foundation.
JUPITER, Fla. (February 11, 2016) – Florida Atlantic University’s John D. MacArthur Campus has received certification as a 2015 Tree Campus USA for the sixth year in a row by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
“It’s an honor to receive this recognition for the sixth year in a row,” said Eliah Watlington, Ph.D., associate provost for FAU’s northern campuses. “It’s a collaborative effort to sustain the standards of Tree Campus USA. We are very grateful to be recognized in preserving the environment on our campus.”
Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and sponsored by Toyota to honor colleges and universities that promote healthy trees and engaging students in the spirit of conservation.
Along with the honor of receiving the Tree Campus USA recognition, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College student Allie Lamb recently completed an Urban Forestry Inventory and Assessment of the campus’ 1,558 trees. The detailed report gives records of each tree’s species, measurements and crown light exposure. Each tree now has an ID number with a GPS coordinate.
“This analysis is essential to a tree campus like ours,” said Alana Edwards, education and training coordinator for FAU’s Center of Environmental Studies (CES). “Now we can evaluate our annual environmental benefits including energy conservation, air quality improvement and carbon dioxide reduction.”
The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant hundreds of thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested $26 million in campus forest management last year. More information about the program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA .
FAU Jupiter is home to the Robert J. Huckshorn Arboretum, named in honor of FAU’s vice president emeritus and founder of the campus. The arboretum is planted with Florida native plants, including typical species found in pine flatwoods, tropical hardwood hammocks, mixed hardwood swamps and oak hammock.
For more information on the Arboretum, contact Alana Edwards at aedwards@fau.edu .
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