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Professor of Biology Alan Griffith and the student volunteers he recruits each semester are mapping every linden and oak, every cedar and dogwood, every single type of tree that sprouts up across campus. The task\u2019s implications are lofty, pinpointing harmful non-native species, supporting student research and contributing to the concepts of conservation, sustainability and urban ecology.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the beginning to that understanding is simply knowing what\u2019s out there,\u201d Griffith said.<\/p>\n
But the project has its practical side, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would hope using these maps and databases would bring meaning to everyday work and decision-making,\u201d Griffith said. \u201cPutting a map in a manager\u2019s hand should make their job easier because they know where all their resources are.\u201d<\/p>\n Director of Landscape and Grounds Richard Blair agrees. The maps help his team monitor tree health, repair storm damage, ward off pests and more.<\/p>\n \u201cThis project will greatly enhance our ability to track individual tree maintenance histories and cost, as well,\u201d Blair said. \u201cThis is something the landscape and grounds department has needed for years.\u201d<\/p>\n The initiative got growing three years ago, when former director of grounds Joni Wilson split up the campus in zones. Section by section \u2013 with help from Griffith, UMW Philharmonic Director Kevin Bartram and others \u2013 she ID\u2019d each tree.<\/p>\n Then, with DBH (diameter at breast height) tapes, clinometers and other tree-measuring tools, their bowls, trunks and canopies, their heights and circumferences, were sized up in centimeters. The data is recorded on smartphones with an app called Collector for ArcGIS, then transferred to online maps that show each plant\u2019s name, family and more.<\/p>\n UMW\u2019s \u201cheritage trees,\u201d the biggest and oldest on campus, were measured first, followed by those at the President\u2019s home, including the famous Brompton Oak with its distinguished Civil War roots. Next, the team tackled the red cedars that line up between the Battleground Athletic Complex and Hanover Avenue, and the zones between William Street and Combs Hall.<\/p>\n By now, Griffith estimates, about half of Mary Washington\u2019s trees have been measured, and he hopes to be finished by summer\u2019s end.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a painstaking process,\u201d said Griffith, who acknowledges that new trees are spawned every day. \u201cI\u2019ll have a job for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Mary](\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/Tree-22-226x300.jpg\")
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