C A M P U S ON CAMPU S N E W S F R O M L E H I G H C H R I S T A N E U The Trees of Lehigh Students catalog trees on the Asa Packer Campus and help Lehigh earn certifcation CATALOGING Ajah Quawiy ’23 and Matt Giovestis ’25 prepare to measure a diffcult tree with a circumference tape measure. Tree diameter must be measured at breast height to accurately collect data. Setting out in groups of two, Ajah Quawiy ’23, Matt Giovestis ’25, Christie Ortega ’23 and Gabriela Birardi ’23 explored a portion of Lehigh’s Asa Packer Campus last fall equipped with a specialized tape for measuring the diameter of trees, an iPad for recording data on spreadsheets and books to assist with tree identifcation. The students alternated three-hour shifts twice per week, depending on the weather. Their mission? To catalog the trees to help Lehigh earn a Tree Campus USA certifcation from the Arbor Day Foundation. The students cataloged more than 500 trees and more than 50 diferent species, including honey locust, umbrella magnolia, red maple and black oak. A campus white oak, which has been growing on campus prior to Lehigh purchasing the university’s oldest building, Christmas-SauconHall, dates back nearly 300 years. With the help of the students’ work, Lehigh earned the recognition in April. The university became one of 411 campuses in the country to achieve the distinction by meeting fve standards: a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project. A campus tree inventory had been in the works earlier at Lehigh, but was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The plan was to collect data that included the species of trees, their diameter at breast height and location, and to generate a map of the trees on campus. That baseline datawould allowLehigh to remeasure the trees again in a few years and estimate the amount of carbon each tree sequesters. With the Ofce of Sustainability applying for the Tree Campus USA certifcation, the push to complete the inventory was revived. Ecologist Robert Booth, professor of earth and environmental sciences, trained the students to use the circumference tape and aided them in tree identifcation. Booth also accompanied the students on some of their campus expeditions as they col6 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N
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