Campus USA is a national program

New York University (NYU) is a Tree Campus USA for the first time, the Arbor Day Foundation announced today.  NYU achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures toward trees, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning projects.  NYU will be honored in an awards ceremony, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Albany, NY.

Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Toyota helped launch the program and continues its generous financial support this year.

“We are pleased and honored that our efforts have been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation, and we are proud to be named a 2012 Tree Campus USA,” said Alison Leary, executive vice president for operations at NYU.  “The urban nature of our NYU campus presents many challenges for gardening and tree care, but they are an important part of our commitment to sustainability.”

“Students are eager to volunteer in their communities and become better stewards of the environment,” said John Rosenow, founder and chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Participating in Tree Campus USA sets a fine example for other colleges and universities, while helping to create a healthier planet for all of us.”

NYU’s Campus Tree Inventory, completed in December 2012, catalogued approximately 727 trees on property surrounding NYU’s buildings in NYU’s Washington Square core campus.  Students in Professor Mary Killilea’s Environmental Studies (ES) courses in Spring and Fall 2012 developed a GIS map with location and species data on more than 300 trees in planted areas near the main Washington Square Village and Silver Towers faculty housing properties.

“People are often surprised when I tell them there's more biodiversity at NYU that you might think; we have hundreds of trees in our urban forest, with a wide variety of species , said NYU’s Head Gardener George Reis.  “Being recognized as a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation is quite an honor. This award represents the efforts of so many in the NYU community to make our home in Greenwich Village a better place every day,” he said.

Using the GIS data assembled through the ES class project and additional data supplied by the  NYC Parks Department, NYU plans to create an interactive website featuring a map of campus trees with available information about each one. The project will be carried out jointly by the NYU Sustainability Task Force and Office of Sustainability with support from staff in other units who have key GIS and Google Maps API experience.

“Toyota is so proud to support a program that we believe has a tremendous impact on both reducing the environmental footprint of a college campus and inspiring college students to become the conservation leaders of the future,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of National Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation.

The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant hundreds of thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested $23 million in campus forest management last year. More information about the program is available at arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.

About New York University:  Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost research universities and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. The first Global Network University, NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York and Abu Dhabi, and has announced a third in Shanghai; has a dozen other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra; and sends more students to study abroad than any other U.S. college or university. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU conducts research and provides education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public administration, social work, and continuing and professional studies, among other areas.

About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization of one million members, with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org, or by visiting us on Facebook, Twitter or our blog.

About Toyota:  Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. Since 1991, Toyota has contributed more than $600 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S.  For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit toyota.com/philanthropy.