STONY BROOK, NY — March 20, 2024 — Stony Brook University has been named a “Tree Campus Higher Education Institution” for the eleventh consecutive year, recognizing the university’s efforts conducted during the 2023 calendar year. Tree Campus Higher Education, the national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, honors colleges and universities, and their leaders, for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.
To obtain this distinction, Stony Brook University met the five core standards for effective campus forest management, including establishing a tree advisory committee, creating a campus tree care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for that campus tree program, observing Arbor Day, and sponsoring student-service learning projects. Last year, members of the Campus Operations & Maintenance team partnered with the Stony Brook Child Care Services Center to plant a seven-foot Ginkgo Biloba ‘The President’ tree.
Alaina Claeson, Horticulturist/Landscape Coordinator at Stony Brook University commented, “This recognition is owed to the support and hard work of our Campus Operations & Maintenance (COM) team and our student organizations across campus. Faculty, staff and students have all played an instrumental role in helping beautify many corners of our campuses this year. From the student-led vegetable garden behind the Student Activities Center to new plantings at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, our communal efforts towards sustainability and maintaining green spaces have provided our Seawolf community with spaces to relax, unwind and connect with nature.”
Since 2009, Stony Brook has planted hundreds of trees on campus – most of which were cultivated in the University’s own greenhouses – through a robust planting program designed to manage the University’s tree care and beautify the campus. In addition to planting trees each year, the horticultural team grows an average of 10,000-15,000 annual plants that help adorn the campus from commencement through the fall season. The COM staff also helps plant and maintain all landscapes across Stony Brook’s campuses throughout the year.
More information regarding the university’s efforts to preserve green spaces on campus can be found here: Sustainability website.
Photo credit: John Griffin/Stony Brook University
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About Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University — New York’s flagship university and No. 1 public university — is going far beyond the expectations of today’s public universities. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. With nearly 26,000 students, more than 2,900 faculty members, more than 200,000 alumni, a premier academic healthcare system and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs, Stony Brook is a research-intensive distinguished center of innovation dedicated to addressing the world’s biggest challenges. The university embraces its mission to provide comprehensive undergraduate, graduate and professional education of the highest quality, and is ranked as the #58 overall university and #26 among public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges listing. Fostering a commitment to academic research and intellectual endeavors, Stony Brook’s membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places it among the top 71 research institutions in North America. The university’s distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Stony Brook has the responsibility of co-managing Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy — one of only eight universities with a role in running a national laboratory. In 2023, Stony Brook was named the anchor institution for The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island in New York City. Providing economic growth for neighboring communities and the wider geographic region, the university totals an impressive $7.23 billion in increased economic output on Long Island. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stonybrooku/ and X@stonybrooku.
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https://news.stonybrook.edu/newsroom/press-release/general/stony-brook-university-receives-eleventh-tree-campus-usa-designation/
