Aquinas College’s Director of Sustainability Jen Howell says she got the idea for accrediting the campus as an arboretum during her job interview.
“And I could tell that we already have an arboretum, which is essentially a tree museum. So, we have about 10,000 trees on campus representing 130 different species, and all but five Michigan-native species are represented here on campus.”
Under her guidance, Aquinas officially achieved accreditation from ArbNet as a class II urban arboretum in February.
“So, we really had all the components that we needed. So, my goal was really just to give a pat on the back to the people that came before me that did really great work to recognize our trees and to hopefully connect people to nature along the way.”
To be accredited, a site must provide marked trees, a visitor map, a forest management plan, and an annual public event.
“We hope to become this living laboratory where we can foster student-driven research, citizen science, we’re hoping to bridge the gap between the classroom and the natural world.”
The campus is open to the public. Arboretum maps are available on the school’s website.
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