Maps

Adventures in Campus Tree Mapping

sjutreepinventoryproject-1024x465

Summary:

In Fall 2012 St. John’s University embarked on an Arbor Day Foundation project to be designated as a Tree Campus USA.  Among the requirements were to understand and manage the trees on campus and to provide service learning opportunities. To that end, this project was conceived as a response engaging students in a first year seminar in an Academic Service Learning project for our Sustainability office to inventory the 3000 trees on our campus.  Since this activity is only one of many that students engage in during this class, it is a slow process.  The project is ongoing with the goal of not only inventorying and mapping all trees on campus, but to use the data to understand the contribution of these trees to our carbon sequestration, energy conservation and in avoiding excess water runoff (current data for select trees can be found as links in the pop ups connected to those trees). This map is a work in progress.

Audience:

University Students/Faculty/Administrators, Alumni, Neighbors in Jamaica, Queens, local community board, New York City Restoration project, NY Million Tree project,  Arbor Day Foundation, other Tree Campus USA schools.

Technology:

Esri ArcGIS Online, Esri Story Maps, Garmin Oregon GPS units

Authors:

Paula Kay Lazrus, St John’s University students

Organization:

Sustainability Office St.  John’s University, Queens, NY

Learn more:

View Online Map View in ArcGIS Online

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

About the author

Paula Kay Lazrus

Paula Kay Lazrus is an archaeologist and an associate professor in the Institute of Core Studies at St. John’s University and is also affiliated with the school’s Environmental Science Program. More info