2014 - Botanical Sign Refurbishment
The original Campus Arboretum signs served us well.
They have been replaced to enhance access to more botanical detail
with the addition of a QR (Quick Response) Codes
that allows smart phone users to link from the signs
to informative websites describing each plant species.
Click here to learn how to use the QR Coded-Signs and then take a mobile tour !
The UA Campus Arboretum promotes stewardship and conservation of almost 8000 campus trees. In 2013, we partnered with more than 12 campus units and community collaborators, hosted more than 700 community visitors on guided tree tours, employed or mentored 9 undergraduates, engaged more than 50 students and staff in service-learning landscape installations, and reached more than 1200 students in formal UA courses.Our reach extends to every campus resident and visitor through our ubiquitous campus signage. Since the recognition of the campus as an arboretum in 2002, more than 800 botanical signs have been installed to promote understanding of their diversity and history. The wide distribution of these signs creates a compelling opportunity to leverage our expertise in urban ecological sustainability through detailed interpretation of sustainability initiative throughout all of the campus built environment. To this end, we propose to install new interpretive signs embedded with QR codes. These codes allow mobile users direct access to a wide range of content including tree benefits calculations, tips on plant selection, water harvesting and management, ethnobotanical uses, harvest guidelines, and ecological associations. With generous support from the UA Green Fund, and significant contributions from Campus Arboretum donors, we were able to fund 9 undergraduate to remove, repair, redesign, and restall nearly 500 new signs. Students also created web content describing almost half of the species in our campus collection and added nearly 3000 new stunning photographs. The signs along with additional web content and images allowed for the creation of mobile tours for all of our regularly offered docent-guided tours, and a new tour of sponsored trees and benches.
Into the future, these signs will facilitate the development of other mobile, self-guided tours and encourage collaboration with formal UA courses, and other campus units employing sustainable initiatives on the campus grounds who may be able to develop online content accessed through the new botanical signage.
Thanks again to the UA Green Fund for seed money to start this project!
