The Brightside: UMES to become an arboretum
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – While several college and university campuses pride themselves on maintaining a visually beautiful campus, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is taking things another step by becoming an official arboretum. “We have amazing trees, but what an arboretum does is essentially makes campus a museum,” says Dr. Stephanie Stotts, Associate Professor of Forest Ecology at UMES.
Umes is using some grant funding to create a ‘Center for Urban Forestry,’ and in turn, become a formal arboretum; Every tree gets labeled, providing educational offerings. “The goal is to get money into communities and have it on the ground doing good rather than having it tied to sort of these research objectives,” says Dr. Stotts.
The grant is through the USDA Forest Service on community and urban forestry, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. Different from a research project which Dr. Stotts says is only beneficial for a moment, and this funding will result in tangible evidence of the work they’re doing. “Still to this day, people will take down trees because they don’t want to clean up the leaves, or they lost the benefits of what’s there, they don’t realize the benefits or consider it a liability,” says Dr. Stottts.
By becoming an arboretum, with an already abundant and diverse selection of trees – over 1,000 to be exact – UMES is setting the tone when it comes to urban forestry. “I feel like with more social activities and stuff like this within science and STEM areas, I think it’s more inviting to have more people within the environment to just take care of our earth,” says UMES marine biology student and senior, Mikaela Blackwood.
Blackwood and another marine biology student Amari Dupree tell us they have a hand in planting newer trees around campus. While majoring in the study of the ocean and other bodies of saltwater, they tell us their interest in trees and soil conservation go hand and hand with what they do. “Part of learning more about the oceans, it’s good to also learn more about just nature and life itself,” says Dupree. Blackwood adds, “Planting with trees and life and stuff like that is cool to dip in, even in the marine aspect with our creatures and stuff like that.”
While UMES is already a certified tree campus, current tree plantings and care for the current on-campus tree population will essentially be highlighted, organized, and prioritized for disadvantaged communities who can look up to the university as a model. “It seems silly to plant a tree and watch it grow, but it gives people a sense of belonging and sort of place and hopefully, when they come back in 10,20, 30 years, they can remember when they planted that tree,” says Dr. Stotts.
Dr. Stotts showed WMDT around campus, carefully describing the different tree species and explaining what additional species they’re adding, she also emphasized the hope that this too can invite people in, but flow out into the community as well. “It’s cool to see more students be able to move, make a stance, and make a change within the actual campus environment,” says Blackwood. “This four-year project will hopefully be the start of a new sprawling and flourishing
community on the eastern shore with trees or urban forestry as the pillar,” says Dr. Stotts. “To leave a legacy, something that will kind of last and will continue and will affect a lot of people.”
Dr. Stotts also tells us they’re beginning to hire people to help with this large project with community projects starting up in the spring of 2025. By next summer, UMES will become an official level-one arboretum and it will continue to grow over four years.
However, their goal is to create a sustainable tree environment on campus and in the surrounding community well beyond the grant’s expiration.
