Apr 29, 2022
IN THE PHOTO: Students holding shovels are (from left) Joe Baron, a junior environmental studies major from Binghamton, New York; Rick Rose, a junior environmental studies major from Medina, Ohio; Casey McGlory, a junior environmental
studies major form Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Prajna Vootukuri, a junior biology major from Dallas, Texas. Holding the sign are Hunter Lauber (left), a senior environmental studies major from Coudersport, Pennsylvania, and Br. Kevin Kriso, O.F.M., of
the friar community at Mt. Irenaeus.
St. Bonaventure University celebrated its 12th consecutive year of being a certified Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus USA on Friday by planting a white birch tree next to the Administration Building on campus.
“This is a very special Arbor Day, the 150th anniversary of the original Arbor Day celebration in Nebraska,” said Kevin Vogel, lecturer of biology and director of the university’s environmental studies program.
He estimated that Arbor Day alone is responsible for the planting of more than 150 million trees. “So there’s 150 million trees worth of shade, carbon sequestration, and pleasure that trees provide,” he said.
It’s tradition for senior environmental studies students to determine the species of tree that is planted each year. Leading the student effort this year was Hunter Lauber, a senior environmental studies major from Coudersport, Pennsylvania.
“The white birch is an amazing tree,” said Lauber. “Its seeds provide food to many birds, such as finches, chickadees and hummingbirds, and birds love to nest in its cavities. We also love our squirrels at St. Bonaventure and squirrels
love to feed on the sap wells in the tree.”
The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. St. Bonaventure has achieved the title every year since 2010 by meeting Tree Campus
Higher Education’s five standards, which include maintaining 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.
There are 403 campuses across the United States with this recognition. More information about the program is available at www.treecampushighered.org.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a million-member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.
______________
About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and
citizenship. St. Bonaventure was named the #5 regional university value in the North in U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 college rankings edition.