NSCC: College of tree knowledge

LYNN – There’s a forest growing in downtown Lynn. It only has 80 trees, but a local college professor says their environmental benefits are getting renewed appreciation.Planted in the 1980s to help beautify the campus bordered by Broad, Washington streets and the Lynnway, the trees include “little leaf lindens” and hearty Scotch pines cataloged by college environmental technology professor Barbara Heath and her horticultural studies students.The students tagged the trees with small plastic signs identifying them by common and Latin names and including a “QR” code on each tag. Heath said the codes can be scanned with a smartphone to access a web page providing detailed information on the trees and benefits they provide far beyond their contribution to the campus landscape.”We’re trying to get non-tree people interested in trees,” Heath said.In the process of absorbing carbon dioxide trees need to survive, Heath said the campus trees pull pollutants out of the air and absorb them with damage to the trees. She said the 15 species clustered around the campus are an urban oasis helping to slightly lessen downtown’s temperature by absorbing sunlight.A New Hampshire resident, Heath taught at the Essex Agricultural and Technical High School beginning in 1983 before North Shore Community College took over the horticultural program. With 30 students currently enrolled in the program, it is one of North Shore’s smaller course groupings, but Heath said environmental awareness and the focus on global warming has changed the way horticulture is taught.”We rejiggered our whole program three years ago to focus on being more sustainable,” she said.She said the future landscapers and professional gardeners who take her courses are learning more about trees’ environmental value and not just their cosmetic contribution to landscaping. She said the tags attached to campus trees give people walking around the campus a chance to participate in that education process.”We’re hoping people see these tags and say, ?Hey, I have one of those trees in my yard,'” Heath said.The tagging effort is also intended to bring attention to disease killing trees, including invasive beetles and other diseases. Several campus trees are diseased and may not be saveable, Heath said.”In some cases, by the time you see the damage, the tree is already dead,” she said.