Campus tree mapping supports Wake Forest’s Level II arboretum accreditation

Professor Ovidiu Csillik’s classes map campus trees

Ovidiu Csillik, an assistant professor of environment and sustainability studies, led a project to produce a publicly accessible, interactive 3D digital map of campus trees. It took one drone, 300 million laser data points and seven teams of students on foot to map Wake Forest University’s trees. The project mapped more than 1,000 individual trees across 90 acres, documenting more than 135 species.

Level II arboretum accreditation

The interactive map project provided students with experiential learning and also contributed to the University’s recently earned Level II arboretum accreditation through The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism.

Wake Forest is also now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants. The University joins a select group of approximately 250 Level II accredited arboreta in the world, fewer than 10 of which are found in the state of North Carolina, signifying the University’s long-standing commitment to careful maintenance and stewardship of its campus treescapes.