Arboretum & Wildlife Center News:
Celebrate Earth Day in the WSU Arboretum & Wildlife Center and plant a tree that may live for hundreds of years!
Join us for an Earth Day / Arbor Day tree planting event in the WSU Arboretum, at noon, Friday, April 20th. Meet arboretum staff in the parking lot of the E.H. Steffen Center (520 NE Airport Road) across from the WSU Bear Center. We will assemble in the parking lot and then walk about 300 yards up a gravel road to a grassy hillside where we will plant about 150-200 ponderosa pine tree seedlings. Read More.
Fall semester fieldwork in the Arboretum & Wildlife Conservation Center was devoted to completing grassland restoration plantings on old fields in the upper central basin of the arboretum. In addition, students in WSU's restoration ecology class also conducted about 8 habitat restoration and planning projects in the AWCC, including testing a new citizen-science project on pollinators in Palouse Prairie.
This ecological design work of students in restoration ecology will be coupled with that of students working in horticulture and landscape architecture to help complete a second generation design plan for the AWCC to be produced this spring. And you may help in this planning and design by participating in tours of the arboretum this spring or by participating in a series of virtual online workshops.
To see photos and stories about the many activities of students and volunteers working the Arboretum & Wildlife Conservation Center this past fall, download a pdf copy (8.4 mb) of the Fall Report 2011.
"Earthworms are not natural! Not even a little bit! At least they're not natural if they're are non-native, introduced earthworms that are devouring the forest floor and radically changing the ecology of some hardwood forests in the northern United States."
To learn more about why worms are, or are not natural, see our science and sustainability blog series, Nature @ WSU. And see the video link there to watch and learn more about the mysterious,
Giant Earthworms.
Students seeking challenging and interesting internship opportunities are invited to apply for the 2012 Internship Program of the WSU Arboretum & Wildlife Conservation Center. Applicants interested in environmental education, natural history and tour guide programs, garden development, and managing volunteer projects and restoration activities are encouraged to apply.