Daily Lobo new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
wednesday April 22, 2015 | Volume 119 | Issue 145
Diana Cervantes / Daily Lobo / @dee_sea_
Meg Oriold of Sol Harvest Farm holds a worm during the seventh annual UNM Sustainability Expo on Tuesday afternoon. For the fifth year in the row, UNM has been voted one of the most environmentally friendly colleges in the United States.
Trees, trees, and more trees Campus takes great lengths to maintain arboretum By Marielle Dent
Diana Cervantes / Daily Lobo / @dee_sea_
UNM International Admissions staff member Suzanne Iseminger browses through the Sustainability Expo’s vegetable plants for sale. The expo hosted many vegetable vendors from across New Mexico.
UNM maintains high green rating By Marielle Dent UNM’s commitment to sustainability has been recognized by the Princeton Review for the fifth year in a row. The “Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition” provides prospective college students with a comprehensive list of schools that offer green campus initiatives. The Princeton Review chose the colleges on this list based off of their “green rating” scores tallied from data collected from a 2014 survey of college administrators, according to a press release. The survey asked about the school’s sustainable policies, practices and programs. It weighed more than 25 data points and tallied “green rating” scores for about 900 universities. Schools included in the 2015 Green Edition had total scores of 83 or higher. “This is important for students who are looking for a school that values
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www.gatheringofnations.com
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Green page 2
April 24 & 25, 2015
UNM is akin to a small city, and all great cities include outdoor spaces for recreation and relaxation, said Sue Mortier, a landscape architect at UNM. While the Physical Plant Department oversees many aspects of campus, the grounds and landscaping section maintains the grounds and water features with a staff of about 50. It empties trash cans, cleans sidewalks, tables and benches, mows grass and removes graffiti. The staff includes certified arborists who care for the campus arboretum, an area where trees are grown for educational and recreational purposes. UNM’s arboretum is one of the largest in the state and has about 150 species of trees, said Gary Smith, associate director of Environmental Services. There are nearly 7,000 individual trees and about that many herbaceous plants as well. “It allows people to come to campus and see the trees and how they perform here — both native and non-native species,” Smith said. “It’s an important educational component. The aesthetic value speaks for itself. It’s important for people to have the opportunity because there aren’t that many places where you can go visit many different species of open-grown trees in an area.” UNM’s landscape architects are interested in keeping the landscapes sustainable to prolong the lives of plants and trees on campus. A great deal of planning goes into any changes to the landscape, Mortier said. If a new building is planned, the outdoor implications must also be considered. Issues like drainage, numbers of pedestrians and pre-existing plants are analyzed. “Green infrastructure” and “low-impact development” techniques are used whenever possible to build with everything that is available to them to create a healthier Diana Cervantes / Daily Lobo / @dee_sea_ environment. For example, landscape designs that reduce water run-off are often explored since water conservation is Adrian Johnston, a philosophy professor, reads a book beneath a a big deal, Mortier said. Japanese pagoda Tuesday afternoon. The Japanese pagoda is only
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Arboretum page 2
one of the thousands of trees that are part of UNM’s arboretum.
at The PIT Albuquerque, NM North America’s “BIGGEST” Pow-Wow!
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