Tree-mendous W&J’s arboretum: a living laboratory
Every tree on W&J’s campus is tagged with the name of the tree. The ginkgo trees were planted for Arbor Day.
Every year on Arbor Day, W&J students help plant a new species of tree on the campus. This past year, the students decided on two white fir trees and a dwarf variety of the southwestern white pine tree.
W&J biology professor Dr. Jason Kilgore, left, and informational specialist Dan Toski measure an elm tree on campus. Every tree on campus was measured for circumference, height and canopy width.
Osage orange trees stand between Lazear Hall and the Swanson Science Center on W&J’s campus. There are more than 1,200 trees and more than 80 species on campus.
Growing up in Northern Michigan’s verdant forests, Dr. Jason Kilgore passed countless hours among the trees.
“I would take a tarp, knife and fishing line … and spend weekends in the woods,” said Kilgore.
When he came to Washington & Jefferson College in 2008, Kilgore realized the value of existing topiary on the urban campus in Washington, but information was lacking.
“We had no idea what kind of trees were here or how many,” he said.
With the help of student volunteers, the associate professor of biology mapped, evaluated and labeled 1,200 trees across W&J’s 85 acres and established the W&J Campus Arboretum. Nearly every tree is tagged with a unique accession number and is mapped into a Geographic Information System, designed to store, analyze and manage data.
The collection has more than 80 species, including seven historically significant Osage oranges that stood as a property marker between the Reed farm and Washington Female Seminary, a Presbyterian school in operation from 1836 to 1948.
Other highlights include a mature American elm recently designated a heritage tree for its rarity and size, four ginkgos planted behind the library and 32 Sargent flowering cherry trees in front of Old Main on College Street.
But Daniel Toski, a recent environmental studies graduate and arboretum information specialist, has a special fondness for the campus’ largest diameter tree – a butternut measuring 48.5 inches.
“It’s refuge,” he said of escaping to “his” tree between classes. “No one bothers me when I’m there.”
Not only did Toski help manage the arboretum’s database, he also completed a year-long research study measuring the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide mitigated by the urban trees. He found that 750 campus trees take out and store about 12 metric tons of emissions produced by gas and electric utilities.
With the many benefits of trees in mind, Kilgore is working to develop a more diverse campus ecology. This summer, two ecology and sustainability interns will develop and test campus biodiversity surveys, which will be incorporated into future courses. They will also help design a saltwater rain garden and a native plant garden near the Dieter-Porter building, with construction expected to begin in summer 2017.
Every Arbor Day, Kilgore and his team plant tree species not found on campus. This year, volunteers planted two white firs and a dwarf southwestern white pine behind Admission House in Salvitti Quad. Future plantings in the mountain woodland area will include aspen, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine and corkbark fir.
“I’d like to make campus a destination for tree lovers,” Kilgore said.
In March, the arboretum was awarded accreditation by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum. This designates the collection for maintaining high standards.
Since 2013, the college has been recognized as a “Tree Campus USA” by the Arbor Day Foundation for effectively managing trees and engaging students. A grant allows W&J students to teach Washington High School students how to plant and care for trees.
An advisory committee, chaired by Kilgore and W&J grounds supervisor Jim Mirage, and including students, faculty, administration and a community member, makes decisions regarding the arboretum. Kilgore said students have been instrumental in developing the collection.
“What we think about is what this campus will look like in the future,” he said. “When planting, you have to consider the size (the trees) will be in 10 or 20 years.”
Kilgore is eager to tackle the ash trees that line Wheeling Street. All are dying or dead from emerald ash borer, caused by beetles that feed on the species. The plan is to plant diverse trees to avoid mass single-species casualties.
Not only do Kilgore’s students study the arboretum; other classes benefit, as well. Art classes use the dried leaves and needles to heat kilns and observe the trees for inspiration; chemistry classes isolate compounds found in the vegetation to examine under microscopes.
While he gives group tours, he wants to make public tours a daily occurrence.
“It’s a living laboratory to study, observe and enjoy,” Kilgore said.
Kilgore’s summed up his passion for trees in one word, “Peaceful.”
“Trees are stationary, yet they’re not. When I ask my students at the beginning of the year if trees move, they say ‘no.’ At the end of the year, they say ‘yes.’ Roots, branches and seeds disperse,” Kilgore said. “So in our time, trees look stationary and peaceful. But, actually, they move quite a bit.”
For more information, visit www.washjeff-arboretum.com or email jkilgore@washjeff.edu.