It begins with Kyungmin Lee, PhD, the inaugural director of sustainability in the Office of Sustainability and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences. “My role is to bring students, faculty and staff together to advance sustainability initiatives across the campus at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­,â€� Dr. Lee said.

At the heart of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s push for sustainability is (STARS). Managed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), STARS is a framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.

“Participating in STARS is an opportunity to bring our existing efforts together and establish a sustainability direction for future work,� Dr. Lee said. “We want to recognize what our campus community has already accomplished and make it more visible.�

Measuring What Matters: The STARS Initiative

As a STARS participant, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ will gather data on various aspects of campus life, including academics, food and dining, buildings and grounds, and more, and earn points toward a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum rating.

The STARS initiative will involve the entire campus. “Students can help collect and analyze the data, and brainstorm and propose possible sustainability projects,â€� Dr. Lee said. “Faculty can support these projects with students so they can be implemented on campus, and staff can bring knowledge about how the University operates and what is feasible to implement on campus.”

STARS data collection and sustainability projects will be coordinated and reported by the Sustainability Task Force, while Sustainability Fellows will brainstorm and carry out the actual projects.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ junior Laurel Owen and first-year student Mahan Nanandhan have already signed on to assist with data collection.

“For now, we’re learning how to collect data for the STARS reporting system,� said Nanandhan, an environmental studies major. “They updated it recently from version 2.0 to 3.0, so it’s a whole process, but we’re getting there.�

For Owen, also an environmental studies major, the work is personal. “I’m a huge nature lover,� she said. “I was raised to respect the natural world, and I wanted to channel that into action.�

Beyond the rating itself, Dr. Lee sees STARS as a way to connect to efforts already happening across campus. “People may already be doing sustainability work in different departments, but without knowing who is doing what,â€� Dr. Lee said. “This process will give us a reason to connect with each other across departments, share information and identify opportunities to work on sustainability initiatives together.”

New Ways to Live and Learn Green

To integrate sustainability into campus life and the academic curriculum, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ is developing a new Living and Learning Community and a first-year seminar focused on sustainability.

The Living and Learning Community will bring together a group of students to live on campus in the same dorm hallway. “The idea is to have a group of students with shared interests and cohort them so they feel a sense of community,â€� said Aaren Freeman, PhD, professor of biology and chair of environmental studies and sciences.

Students will decide what sustainability practices and activities they want to undertake, and Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ will provide support. “If they want to compost, we’ll provide the materials,â€� Dr. Freeman said. Students can also participate in cleanups, invasive species removal and other projects that interest them.

Meanwhile, the first-year seminar, themed Into the Wild and taught by two environmental studies faculty members, will emphasize campus sustainability through field trips and classroom learning. Students have the opportunity to shape the course. “The professors have academic freedom to teach the class how they want, but we’re all working together on this,â€� Dr. Freeman said. “There’s a lot of room for modification and feedback along the way.”

Both initiatives are set to begin in Fall 2027.

Students Leading the Charge

In addition to assisting with STARS data collection, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ students are shaping the campus sustainability efforts.

Owen, president of the , a student club that coordinates volunteer sustainability opportunities in the community, attended the first STARS workshop with other members of the EAC. There, they presented their list of demands to improve sustainability on campus. Many of those demands will form the foundation of future STARS projects.

Nanandhan, who also attended the workshop, plans to go to law school so he can help draft and implement environmental policy. “I want to make an impact,â€� he said. “I don’t want to just sit by and watch people run things and leave some of us out. I want everyone to feel heard.â€�

For Owen, the stakes reach well beyond Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s campus. “It’s about thinking about the future of the planet and of humanity, and doing our part so generations after us will have an earth to live on that’s sustainable,â€� she said.

Interested in becoming involved with STARS? Contact us at sustainability@adelphi.edu.

Learn more about sustainability at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­.

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Under the leadership of Robert Shipley ’05, assistant vice president for facilities management, the facilities team proposed pairing a mandatory roof replacement in 2022 with a modern solar energy installation.

“We had to replace the roof, so the question became: How do we make the most of that investment?â€� said Shipley. “Pairing the new roof with solar gave us an opportunity to solve an immediate problem while doing something that will benefit Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ for years to come.â€�

Today, that vision is a reality. A new 295 kW rooftop solar array on the CRS is fully energized and producing clean electricity on the 75-acre Garden City campus.

With this greener approach, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ is also saving green: between $20,000 and $26,000 per year.

In fact, over Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s 20-year agreement with Greenskies Clean Energy, projected savings come out to approximately $600,000—an astonishing number that easily recovers the capital expense of replacing the roof.

Strategic Partnerships and Financial Savings

Bringing the solar installation to life required careful planning. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ began working with SolarKal, a commercial solar advisory, in 2022 to guide the project through evaluation and competitive procurement. Following the procurement process, the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Board of Trustees selected Greenskies to develop, construct, own and operate the system.

The 546-panel array was completed without requiring up-front capital investment from the University for the solar infrastructure itself. Under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with Greenskies, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ purchases the electricity generated by the system at a discounted rate compared to standard utility pricing with PSEG Long Island.

“Smart growth and sustainable infrastructure are key priorities for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, and this project aligns directly with those goals,â€� said Carol Ann Boyle, MBA ’17, vice president of campus operations. “Bringing more solar online is a major step toward Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s cleaner, more sustainable future.â€�

Installation officially began in July 2025. While physical panel placement was straightforward, the project team faced significant weather delays due to something everyone on campus will remember: one of Long Island’s coldest and snowiest winters in recent memory.

“Projects like this take close coordination from development through construction and interconnection,â€� noted Carson Mislick, director of project delivery at Greenskies Clean Energy. “We’re proud to have worked alongside Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ and SolarKal to bring the project across the finish line.â€�

Neil Sharma, SolarKal co-founder and chief commercial officer, added, “As a New Yorker with a personal connection to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, this has always felt like a hometown project to me. After working toward it for years, it’s especially rewarding to see it come to life.â€�

Expanding a Decades-Long Legacy of Sustainability

The new rooftop array is the latest chapter in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s long history of environmental initiatives:

• 2003: Installed a geothermal heating and cooling system in Residence Hall A, cutting electricity reliance for the facility by approximately 30 percent
• 2006: Earned recognition during EPA compliance inspections as the only regional educational institution to pass with zero fines or penalties
• 2011: Commissioned a 50 kW solar installation on the roof of Swirbul Library
• 2016: Added a 2 MW campus cogeneration plant to improve overall energy efficiency
• 2025: Regained official arboretum status for green spaces and implemented food waste reduction practices in dining services

These cumulative efforts earned Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ a spot in The Princeton Review 2025 Guide to Green Colleges.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s 75-acre campus, with more than 100 species of trees and shrubs, has renewed arboretum status.

Looking Ahead to Future Green Initiatives

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ continues to expand its green roadmap under the guidance of a new Sustainability Committee, launched in Fall 2026.

As part of an overarching $55 million campus modernization project, information technology and facilities management teams are working together on a project to relocate and upgrade the campus data center that will boost operational energy efficiency. The University has also installed new HVAC systems and energy-efficient windows in the Hagedorn Hall of Enterprise.

Looking further ahead, the facilities team is exploring additional solar array installations on the Hy Weinberg Center for Communication Disorders and Angello Alumni House.

With the CRS system energized and delivering clean power, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ proves that even unexpected infrastructure challenges can turn into long-term opportunities for sustainable growth.

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We’ve all heard of the Bermuda Triangle—that part of the Atlantic best known for sensationalized myths about aliens, wormholes and the lost city of Atlantis. But zoom out a little, and you’ll learn that this patch of ocean is just one part of the Sargasso Sea, which holds mysteries of its own.

The Sargasso Sea is a 2-million-square-mile region of the North Atlantic Ocean bounded by four circulating ocean currents, creating calm, warm and highly saline waters covered by dense mats of free-floating brown macroalgae known as Sargassum, which lend this patch of sea its name. This microalgae forms a floating tropical rainforest that provides food and refuge for ocean life from fish to sea turtles—and serves as the exclusive breeding ground for the enigma that is the American eel.

“American eels have a cool life history,� said Andrea Ward, PhD, vice provost for research and libraries. “They reproduce in the Sargasso Sea and then migrate thousands of miles into rivers all along the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, where they can stay in fresh water for many years until they return to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce and die.� Because it takes place in this deep sea location, no one has ever directly witnessed the eel mating process, and as yet, eels have not been bred in captivity.

Young eels drift thousands of miles on ocean currents as transparent, leaf-shaped larvae before transforming into tiny “glass eels� and making their way to the freshwater rivers, streams and estuaries of eastern North America, where they spend the majority of their lives—sometimes decades—growing slowly into yellow eels and eventually the darker adult “silver eels.� Capable of breathing through their skin and even wriggling overland through wet grass to reach new waterways, American eels are remarkably adaptable, yet their populations have declined sharply in recent decades.

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Students spotted a rare cassowary—the world’s most dangerous bird—in the Daintree Rainforest. The cassowary, although normally shy, can stand up to six feet tall and attack with dagger-like claws.

Led by biology and environmental studies and sciences faculty Aaren Freeman, PhD, Matthias Foellmer, PhD, and Elizabeth Buccheri, PhD, the group embarked on a two-week, hands-on expedition across Australia’s wild ecosystems—earning 2 course credits while having the trip of a lifetime.

Marine Ecology, Biology Research and Snorkeling

The adventure started long before takeoff. During the spring semester, students prepped by learning about marine ecology, practicing their snorkeling skills (with two students even getting SCUBA certified), and drafting their own research plans.

Then came the real world.

“Some had cogent plans, but when they arrived and put their faces in the water, what we thought would be there just wasn’t there,� Dr. Freeman recalled. “Adapting to the differences between planning a research project and the reality of conducting that research was an important field experience take-home academic lesson.�

(From left) Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ students Chelsea Javier, Ryan Will and Audrey Cozine after a day of scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. Students spent up to two hours a day in the water, observing coral atolls and marine wildlife.

Sharks, Giant Spiders and “Indiana Jones� Moments

Base camp for the marine portion of the trip was the Heron Island Research Station, right in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Students spent up to two hours a day in the water, swimming alongside sharks, stingrays and skates.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ student John DelCarpine enjoys a gondola high above a eucalyptus forest.

They also witnessed firsthand the harsh impact of climate change and coral bleaching on the 1,400-mile-long Great Barrier Reef—a sobering reminder of the planet’s fragility.

On this visit, Dr. Freeman, was pleasantly surprised at the corals’ resilience. “I remain hopeful,� he said. “But I’m not Pollyanna, the reefs aren’t really doing fine.�

When the group explored the ancient Daintree Rainforest, things were even wilder:

• The Cassowary: Students spotted the notoriously elusive—and notoriously powerful—cassowary, officially ranked by the Library of Congress as the world’s most dangerous bird.
• The Spiders: Guided by Dr. Foellmer (a terrestrial biologist and insect expert), the team navigated terrain packed with massive arachnids. “I had many interactions with big hairy spiders about the size of my hand,â€� Dr. Freeman recalled. “One web ended up on my back —with a four-inch spider on it—and made me feel like Indiana Jones. Yet, these spiders were harmless.â€�
• Canopy Views: The crew even hit the hinterlands, riding a gondola high above the canopy of a eucalyptus forest.

Beyond the Lab: Deep Diving Into Culture

It wasn’t all data collection and dodging wildlife. The group spent half a day in Mossman Gorge led by an Aboriginal guide, learning about sacred forests, traditional medicines and ancient toolmaking. Stops in Cairns and Brisbane introduced students to Australia’s vibrant city life and its incredible, Asia-influenced food scene.

For Dr. Buccheri, this kind of trip is full circle. She actually went on Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s 2017 Australia trip as an undergrad, which inspired her to move to Australia, earn her master’s and PhD in reef ecology, and eventually return to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ to teach.

Dining alfresco in the Daintree Rainforest, the world’s oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest.

Expert Faculty as Australia Guides

Students benefitted not only from their professors’ individual scientific expertise, but also from their experience and knowledge of Australia and the climate change challenges facing its ecologically diverse reefs and rainforests, reflecting Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s commitment to sustainability.

“Each of us has our own area of expertise,â€� explained Dr. Freeman, a marine ecologist and chair of the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences. In 2010, he and Dr. Foellmer, a terrestrial biologist and chair of the Department of Biology, took the first group of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ students to Australia. This year’s was their sixth such trip.

According to Dr. Freeman, Dr. Buccheri’s experience as a student on Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s 2017 Australian alternative break trip was life-changing, as it inspired her to gain expertise in reef ecology and reproductive biology by earning master’s and doctoral degrees in Australia. She is now an adjunct professor in environmental studies and sciences . “She’s a great success story,â€� he said.

Front left: Professor Matthais Foellmer, PhD, one of three professors serving as a guide, photographs wildlife along the Daintree River.

Next Australian Trek: 2028

For these 13 biology students, the trip was a massive eye-opener. As one student put it: “It will leave such an amazing impact on your life. You’ll want to go back as soon as you get home.�

Dr. Freeman and the department are already planning their next Australian trek for 2028. The Great Barrier Reef, the Milky Way in a clear night sky and a few friendly sharks are waiting.

Students and their Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ professors gather at sunset after a day of exploring coral atolls around Heron Island Research Station.

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A campus should feel like more than just a place to study—it should be a home away from home. By making our Garden City campus a safe and secure environment, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has done just that.

Over the years, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has been consistently ranked as one of the safest colleges in both New York state and the country by reputable organizations such as and BackgroundCheck.org. But it’s not just these organizations reporting this. It’s the students, too. In past Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Student Quality of Life surveys, 92 percent of students felt well-informed about how to respond to campus emergencies, while 94 percent reported feeling safe on the Garden City campus.

Safe Town, Safe Campus

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s 75-acre campus is located in the suburb of Garden City, New York. According to local law enforcement statistics, violent crime is exceptionally rare in Garden City, falling well below both the New York state and national averages. Garden City is also ranked as one of the by several sources.

With Garden City as its backdrop, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has taken further action to ensure students’ safety at their home away from home. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ maintains an emergency notification system that can quickly inform community members of any campus incidents. The University also offers an active safety and crime prevention program, including comprehensive safety training. Additionally, all entrance doors to University residence halls are permanently locked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Any access to dormitories requires an authorized electronic student ID card.

Hop on a Shuttle for Safety

Making regular runs around campus, the Panther Express provides free shuttle bus transportation to nearby train stations, supermarkets and shopping plazas—particularly during the nighttime.

Credit for security on campus goes to the Department of Public Safety and Transportation. The department is committed to transparency and regularly issues a fire and safety report which outlines practices, incidents that occurred on campus and responses to those incidents.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s officers also patrol the Garden City campus—often on bicycles —24/7, 365 days a year. But students don’t need to rely solely on patrolling officers. Students have direct, immediate access to campus security. In the event of an incident, they can dial “5” from any on-campus phone, use the blue light emergency call boxes scattered across the grounds or call the emergency line at 516.877.3511.

Not Just Safe. Safe From Pesticides, Too

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s campus is more than just a safe space. It’s also a beautiful green space with prestigious accreditation. In October 2025, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ renewed its Level I Arboretum Accreditation through , part of the esteemed Morton Arboretum registry. Valid until October 2030, this accreditation places Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ on the global registry of accredited arboreta and public gardens. And it’s not hard to see why.

For more than 20 years, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has maintained a 100 percent pesticide-free campus that’s fostered a rich biodiversity. Its campus has since become a gorgeous landscape that’s home to more than 100 different plant species, some of them with unique backstories. The azaleas on the flagpole lawn were planted by the Class of 1935 and have thrived for nearly 100 years. The vibrant pink cherry trees and rose garden have become iconic visual landmarks on campus during the springtime.

Plans are currently underway to label plant species and weave the arboretum into academic programs. There’s also a plan to develop a dedicated arboretum campus map that shows key points of interest, allowing students and visitors to explore notable plant specimens across the grounds.

This prestigious arboretum accreditation underscores Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s unwavering commitment to sustainability. But the ±«²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â’s biodiversity does more than just protect the planet.

It offers a vibrant, living oasis that provides students with moments of calm and reflection—proving that a truly safe campus is one that protects both the body and the mind.

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The Teacher Pipeline program does more than address today’s national teacher shortage crisis. As a “grow your ownâ€� initiative, it creates a direct pathway from local high schools to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s Scholar Teacher Education Program (STEP), an accelerated program that grants students undergraduate and graduate teaching degrees in just five years, saving them time and tuition.

“It’s connecting two ends of a pipeline,â€� said Emily Kang, PhD, associate dean for academic affairs at the Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences, the program’s creator. “Though Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has strong numbers in our undergraduate teaching programs, we’re always looking to recruit more young people who are enthusiastic about the field. Now, high school students who want to start their careers early can do so while earning college credit.â€�

A Pipeline That Benefits Everyone

Dr. Kang calls the program a “win-winâ€� for both high schoolers and Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s education department. In addition to training the next generation of qualified educators, it’s also enhancing engagement, academic interest and retention within high schools by putting career opportunities front and center. Research has shown that high school seniors tend to experience a drop in motivation, leading to lower retention rates by graduation. But for the students enrolled in the Teacher Pipeline program, “everything they do counts,â€� Dr. Kang said. “They’re seeing the fruits of their labor immediately.â€� With the program’s headstart, they’ll also be able to earn a college degree in three years, reducing the time and cost barriers that keep many interested students from pursuing teaching careers.

Built to Serve Each District’s Needs

There’s no “one size fits allâ€� model for the Teacher Pipeline. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ worked with partner school districts—including Freeport, Mineola and East Meadow—to develop different models that meet each district’s needs. Students in Mineola schools are bused to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ four days a week to take Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ courses, for instance, while Freeport students are bused twice a week. Meanwhile, students in East Meadow take equivalent courses at their home schools, taught by qualified district personnel. Courses cover the fundamentals a high schooler would need to proceed through STEP, such as community, schools and society; adolescent/child development; sociolinguistics and children with special needs.

Field experience is also a core component of the program. One day a week, students observe K–12 classrooms in their home districts, gaining hands-on experience while strengthening connections to their communities and potential future employers.

Sparking “Remarkable Growth� in High School Students

Pipeline students receive plenty of support on their journey. As soon as they join the program, they’re able to access all of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s regular support services, from writing and subject-specific tutoring to assistance from the Student Access Office. Within the program, they benefit from mentor relationships with Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ faculty, as well as their own peer networks. According to Dr. Kang, ties between participating students are incredibly strong. “They’re gathering together to help each other out with assignments,â€� she said. “We’ve seen remarkable growth in terms of maturity and community.â€�

LaShonda Gardenhire, an adviser at Freeport High School, says her students are so excited about the program—and their own growth—that they’re spreading the word themselves. “We’re seeing an increase in hard skills like academic ability. Students are engaging with educational pedagogy at a level beyond what we’d ever expect from teenagers.� Participants’ soft skills are evolving, too. Gardenhire reports an increase in confidence, public speaking aptitude and eagerness to take on leadership roles within the district and the local community.

For Communities, by Communities

Once Pipeline participants complete their undergraduate degrees, they can go on to a one-year graduate program that prepares them to acquire New York state licensure and a master’s degree—and return to teach in their home districts, resulting in a cycle of community-based educator development that can be repeated year after year.

“If you know the community you’re teaching in, you know how to work within it,� Dr. Kang noted. “This program is diversifying the workforce while minimizing that transitional shock for new teachers.�

The value of recruiting teachers to lead classrooms where they once learned is “not even quantifiable,� Gardenhire said. “They’re bringing an emotional investment in their community, a place where they grew up and probably still have family. And by coming full circle, they’re making a huge impact on their students. They are their own success stories. They can say to their students, ‘I sat in that seat. I went through this system. And look at me now.’�

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Improving Access to Healthy Foods

The Tower Garden project was born out of a real community need. In 2022, Clinical Assistant Professor Rachel Taniey, PhD, director of the MS in Nutrition and Dietetics program in the Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences, surveyed users of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s on-campus food pantry, Panther Pantry, to better understand what students needed. “We learned that students want to see fresh produce and an extended variety of items,â€� she said.

Armed with that insight, Dr. Taniey saw an opportunity to create a hands-on learning experience for graduate students. Through a , she received a to supply the fresh produce.

“The grant focuses on changing systems, policies and environment to improve access to affordable nourishing food, healthy food access and physical activity,” said Karyn Kirschbaum, PhD, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ adjunct professor of nutrition, who has coordinated the CHSC grant through Western Suffolk BOCES for nearly 20 years.

At the center of the project is a novel piece of food technology: an aeroponic growing system that allows you to cultivate fruits, leafy vegetables and herbs in a single vertical column. Seedlings are placed into pods along the outside of the tower, with their roots exposed at the center. A reservoir at the base holds water and a mineral blend, which a submersible pump continuously pushes to the top of the structure. From there, the nutrient-rich water cascades downward, misting the exposed roots before returning to the reservoir below. The result is a full harvest in as little as five to six weeks—and because the system grows indoors, it produces continuously throughout the year.

A Hands-On Learning Experience

Growing fresh produce for the Panther Pantry is only one component of the project—education is the other. Every semester, graduate students can fulfill the required 130 hours of supervised community nutrition fieldwork through the Tower Garden.

That’s exactly the opportunity graduate students Alexis Provenz and Ellie Cohen were looking for. In addition to maintaining the garden, they assemble salad kits for Panther Pantry and organize educational events for the community.

The salad kits are a more recent innovation, born out of a simple realization. “We realized that maybe just bringing over bags of produce isn’t the most appetizing way to encourage college students to eat vegetables,â€� Dr. Taniey said. “So we put it all together in little to-go containers with a package of olive oil and a label that says ‘Just add protein from the pantry.’â€�

The food demonstrations take that mission a step farther. On March 10, Provenz and Cohen led a station at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s Nutrition Fair, where they prepared dishes made entirely from Tower Garden and pantry ingredients. “We came up with two balanced and healthy recipes so students can replicate the recipes free of charge,â€� Cohen said.

The experience has already proven to be a valuable complement to classroom learning. “We learn what truly goes into planning and organizing events behind the scenes, how to troubleshoot problems creatively, and how to collaborate with professionals and peers in a real-world setting,� Provenz said. “It has given me a much deeper understanding of the work that goes into community nutrition programs and the impact they can have.�

What’s Next for “Keanu Leaves�

The Tower Garden project achieves two major goals of the MS in Nutrition and Dietetics program: increasing access to healthy food for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ community members and preparing students for a career in nutrition.

“Our program is definitely rooted in community nutrition,â€� Dr. Taniey said. “We are increasing access for our community members, and we are also increasing knowledge of community nutrition for our dietetics students and really preparing them for a career in community nutrition.”

For Provenz, the project has shifted how she thinks about her field entirely. “This project has shown me that nutrition and dietetics is so much broader than simply ‘eating healthy,’â€� she said. “Dietetics is deeply connected to community health, food access, education and sustainability.â€�

And the project is still just getting started. Dr. Taniey recently submitted a research proposal for a case study of pantry users as they interact with the Tower Garden, food demonstrations and nutrition education materials. If approved, the study would bring a formal academic lens to an organic, hands-on initiative.

She also hopes to expand what the garden grows, adding more herbs and eventually vine plants like tomatoes. “We’re excited to explore what we do next,� Dr. Taniey says. “We’ll be thinking of new recipes and ways to get students involved.�

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More than just a collection of buildings, it is a vibrant living landscape home to more than 100 species of trees and shrubs—all maintained with a 100 percent pesticide-free commitment.

That commitment has just earned Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ a Level I Arboretum Accreditation through , part of the esteemed Morton Arboretum registry.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s Beautiful Campus Is Now Globally Recognized

This prestigious accreditation, awarded in October 2025 and valid until October 2030, places Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ on the global registry of accredited arboreta and public gardens.

Jay Cartabuke, the facilities project manager who oversees the ±«²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â’s arboretum status, noted that this recognition enhances Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s visibility worldwide and underscores its commitment to sustainability.

“Our campus is now featured on an international platform,� Cartabuke said. “Anyone around the globe can access this registry, which aligns with our broader strategy of seeking global recognition.�

Campus as a Living Classroom

An arboretum represents more than just greenery in a garden formation; it is a carefully curated collection of trees and woody plants maintained for education, research and even public enjoyment. For more than 20 years, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has maintained a pesticide-free campus, fostering biodiversity and supporting local wildlife—most notably our beloved cottontail rabbits, who famously dart across students’ paths on their way to class.

The campus also features distinctive historical plantings, including azaleas planted by the Class of 1935 on the flagpole lawn, which have thrived for more than 85 wonderful years. Seasonal highlights, such as rows of brilliant pink cherry trees and a fragrant rose garden, remain iconic visual landmarks, especially in spring.

Cartabuke noted that while more than 100 species are believed to be present on campus, 68 have been formally identified and documented in an expanding collections database. Maintaining accreditation involves meticulous cataloging, mapping and labeling of plant species, a project that will continue through the spring and summer.

Plans are also underway to develop a dedicated arboretum campus map that showcases key points of interest and enables students and visitors to explore notable specimens across the grounds.

Sustainability: Part of Our Strategic Plan

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­â€™s arboretum accreditation supports Goal 3 of the ±«²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â’s Momentum 2 strategic plan, which focuses on sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has recently achieved two significant milestones: It renewed its ArbNet accreditation and its institutional membership with the . These accomplishments enhance the ±«²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â’s professional network and provide vital access to conferences, research resources and sustainability initiatives.

Benefits of Accreditation

The ArbNet accreditation offers numerous advantages for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, including:

• Validation of best practices in landscape management, which reinforces the ±«²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â’s commitment to sustainability
• Acknowledgement of the campus as a living classroom, enhancing its role as an educational resource
• Benchmark opportunities to compare practices with peer institutions, increasing the ±«²Ô¾±±¹±ð°ù²õ¾±³Ù²â’s global visibility as a sustainable campus

Best of all, participation in this valuable program costs the institution nothing.

A Green Campus for Today’s Students

In an age when climate change and environmental awareness are paramount, maintaining a sustainable, biodiverse campus is essential. Cartabuke emphasizes that green spaces not only reflect environmental responsibility but also enhance student well-being. Areas such as the rose garden and shaded benches beneath mature trees provide students with much-needed moments of calm amid their busy academic lives.

The University plans to boost engagement by fostering faculty partnerships, encouraging student participation and possibly offering arboretum tours. A newly announced sustainability task force will further weave the arboretum into academic programs and campus initiatives.

Looking Ahead to a Greener Future

With accreditation secured through 2030, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ is shifting its focus to growth and engagement. Upcoming projects include labeling plant species, expanding the collections database, improving visibility on the Facilities Management website, and developing programming that showcases the campus as a public garden.

“Our goal is to maintain and build upon what we have,� Cartabuke stated. “There’s always room to go above and beyond.�

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Dr. Caro, who studied human evolutionary biology at Harvard University before pivoting to zoology and animal biology at the University of Oxford for her doctorate, has spent most of her career researching the dynamics between bird parents and their offspring, integrating concepts from behavioral neuroscience, evolutionary biology and urban biology. “I’m interested in how birds’ social behavior evolves when there’s a tension between two evolutionary incentives: cooperation and competition,� she said.

Bird families are the perfect petri dish for this tension. Parents want their offspring to cooperate and survive, but they may also, as Dr. Caro puts it, “be a little selfish and want their partner to do more of the work.�

Publishing Research That Expands Understanding of Bird Behavior

Recently, Dr. Caro was the first author on an article, “� (Behavioral Ecology, May 2025), that adds a new dimension to our understanding of bird parent behavior. Among evolutionary biologists, conventional wisdom holds that bird parents respond to their offspring begging for food with fixed behaviors, or behaviors that have evolved over time into something specific and unchanging. But Dr. Caro suspected that parents are actually plastic, or flexible, when responding to their offspring’s signals, particularly in different environmental conditions.

Dr. Caro took to the woods to conduct an experiment. She gave half of the resident bird population extra food to simulate ideal environmental conditions. The other half experienced no change to their environments. Additionally, she cross-fostered broods to ensure that chicks in both populations would behave similarly, leaving environmental conditions the only remaining variable.

Over the subsequent week, parents did not concentrate their feeding on the chicks that were the largest or loudest. Instead, Dr. Caro’s theory proved correct. The parents who received extra food became “nice, equitable parents,� she explained, while parents in harsher conditions surrendered to survival of the fittest. “These parents selectively ignored the runts, which means they were making decisions about which of their offspring were most likely to survive when food was low.� Ultimately, parents displayed plasticity in responding to multiple sources of information, including local environmental conditions and their assessments of each chick’s size and behavior.

Exploring Parenting Differences Between Males and Females

Dr. Caro’s “� (Behaviour, July 2025) illuminates another bird family dynamic—this time couples. “In my work, I was noticing that male and female parents made decisions differently. Mothers took longer to make a decision and were more likely to change their minds,� often clashing with fathers over feeding. But, she wondered, were these conflicts purely the product of biological differences in birds?

To find out, she conducted a meta-analysis on 31 bird species, comparing how mothers and fathers responded to offspring begging alongside social and physiological traits that could influence conflict. The results were unexpected. “I went in expecting birds to show similar patterns to mammals, where females are almost always more responsive and provide the vast majority of parental care,� she said. “But across every bird species, sex difference was minimal. Only when I looked within species did I start to see other patterns.�

In bird species with strong bonds between males and females, fathers were more responsive to offspring begging for food. In species with less stable bonds, however, fathers were less responsive to begging, leading females to compensate by taking on a greater share of parental care. Rather than an innate difference among sexes, then, Dr. Caro’s findings demonstrate that varying levels of responsiveness among males and females are likely shaped by the types of bonds they form.

Whether she’s depositing mealworms in bird nests or running statistical analyses, Dr. Caro believes a mixture of research methods will always yield the best result. “Comparative meta-analyses allow me to see the big picture across species. Then I can zoom into the details with experimental work,� she said. “My findings from an experiment might lead me to do a meta-analysis or vice versa. This is just such a rich field with so many different axes to explore.�

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