For the fourth year in a row, members of the campus community and general public are invited to celebrate National Arbor Day with the Canal Forest Restoration Project (CFRP) team at SUNY Oswego’s Rice Creek Field Station. 

This year’s celebration on Friday, April 28, includes invited talks from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and a free tree giveaway from 2:45 until 5 p.m. 

During the invited talks, speakers hailing from SUNY Oswego, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station will highlight different projects and perspectives on forests, trees and the environment, from urban tree health in a changing climate to invasive species management to creativity in nature. 

Interested participants can view the talks in person at Rice Creek Field Station or join the series live via Zoom. Zoom participants are asked to register at linktr.ee/ricecreek. Recordings will be posted to the Canal Forest Restoration Project’s YouTube page approximately one week after the live event.

The speaker lineup includes:

  • “Urban Tree Health in a Changing Climate,” by Susanna Keriö. This talk features research conducted at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station on the effects of climate change on urban tree species and their health.
  • “The Poetry of Trees,” by Laura Donnelly. This talk will explore poems written by Donnelly and others relating to trees, with a discussion of the engagement of creativity and writing in the world of nature. Donnelly is an award-winning poet, associate professor of English and creative writing and director of SUNY Oswego’s creative writing program.
  • “Integrated Pest Management of Emerald Ash Borer in Urban Forests,” by Melissa Fierke: This talk highlights research conducted at ESF on the efficacy of integrating insecticide treatments and release of parasitoids to control the invasive emerald ash borer long-term. 

While supplies last, the Canal Forest Restoration Project team will also hold a free tree giveaway at Rice Creek Field Station, featuring tree seedlings and young trees, from 2:45 to 5 p.m. Most trees will be English oaks, a long-lived species suitable for most planting conditions, including as urban street trees. 

The giveaway is open to the general public, including those who have received trees from the project in the past. Those who are interested in trees but cannot come during the pickup window should email rcfs@oswego.edu.

Rice Creek Field Station is located at 193 Thompson Rd. in Oswego. A unit of SUNY Oswego, Rice Creek Field Station is dedicated to being a living laboratory for the advancement of knowledge through ecological research, education and stewardship of the natural world.

Campus tree planting

Several additional SUNY Oswego groups are honoring Arbor Day with tree care and tree planting. The Office of Sustainability, the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership and the Oswego Tree Stewards will team up to plant several new trees in the university’s Centennial Arboretum as well as along its Sweet Road entrance, while also performing spring maintenance to these areas. Several sororities and fraternities will officially adopt a campus tree at these events, committing to the care of these trees for a minimum of two years. These events will culminate in the reading of a campus Arbor Day proclamation. 

Additional details about the webinar, the Canal Forest Restoration Project and how to support the project can be found on Rice Creek Field Station’s website, oswego.edu/rice-creek. Additional details about the recently accredited Centennial Arboretum can be found on the Office of Sustainability’s website, oswego.edu/sustainability.