For the 13th consecutive year, SUNY Jamestown Community College has earned the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Higher Education designation. A celebration is planned for noon on April 27 near the pond on the Jamestown Campus. Several new trees will be planted on campus at this time, to continue efforts to increase the diversity and climate resilience of JCC’s arboretum. 
“We are proud of our efforts to care for the earth while creating a campus that can improve the overall wellbeing of its community,” Janis Bowman, professor and biology coordinator of environmental science at JCC shares. “JCC was the first community college in New York state to earn the Tree Campus designation, and was also one of the first colleges to receive the award when the program began in 2008.”
According to the Arbor Day Foundation, trees on campus and in urban spaces can lower energy costs by providing shade cover, cleaner air and water, and green spaces for students and faculty. Shaded areas for studying and gathering make campuses more visually appealing, and trees have been shown to improve students’ mental and cognitive health.
“Trees not only play a vital role in the environment, but also in our daily lives,” said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Having trees on college and university campuses is a great way to show a commitment to the general wellness of both students and faculty.”
The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management, and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. JCC met Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for the campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and student service-learning project. Currently, 393 campuses across the country have earned this distinction.
More information can be found at treecampushighered.org.