As the air continues to get cooler and we transition into fall, the beauty of Middlebury’s campus comes alive with a watercolor of reds, oranges and yellows. While this seasonal change is something we look forward to every year, it may not be something we can truly value without knowing the story behind some of the most interesting and impressive trees on campus.
Over the summer, Middlebury’s Horticulturalist Tim Parsons developed an interactive map as a means of “keeping track of and organizing” the once poorly-managed and diverse tree variety. The introduction of this digital and static map detailing the 2,279 trees on campus gives students the opportunity to discover and admire these great trees at Middlebury.
It was his goal to “know exactly what is in the ground and what new to plant,” said Parsons, who estimated he plants three new trees for every one taken down.
Parsons worked with a Geography Info Systems (GIS) team to categorize the approximately 2,500 trees on campus. This was a follow-up project to his Winter Term Urban Forest class in which his students took the tree population and ran it through modeling software to look at carbon sequestration, pollution abatement and other environmental factors.
Ben Meader ’10.5 worked with Parsons to select the 99 tress that would be, as Meader said, “most significant for people to see.” Meader spent the summer gathering information about each tree and creating the static map as part of his job as a digital media tutor at the library.
“The project was so interesting,” Meader said. “There was so much about the trees I wouldn’t have known without working with Tim.”
Mapping the trees on campus proved exciting and challenging for Parsons, who came to Middlebury in 2000 and found that the College lacked a proper arbor identification system. With GIS software, he is now able to keep track of the growth and development of all trees in a systematic and accurate manner.
“I want as diverse of a modern forest I can get,” said Parsons, “and the GIS program allows me to do just that.”
Parsons can now walk the campus with his GPS reader and recall information about any tree that he encounters.
The plant diversity is an aspect of Middlebury Meader feels he can now fully appreciate.
“I pride myself in learning,” said Meader. “We have so many kinds of trees that most students don’t even really see or take interest in.”
The recent horticulture study can serve as a resource for students in all disciplines. As Parsons noted, it has the potential for geography classes to do population work with something, “right at your own door.”
Additionally, it serves as a means through which students can learn more about the variety of plant life on campus.
Check out some of the many beautiful trees on campus: Osage Orange, Weeping European Birch, Elm, Katsura, Crimson King Maple Tree, Star Magnolia, Norway Spruce.
To learn more about Parson’s Horticulture Study, read his blog at http://blogs.middlebury.edu/middland/ or find his project at go/middlab
Tree Hunt
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