Cultivating Community and Research: The Spelman College Arboretum Project

Atlanta, renowned for its extensive urban tree canopies, embodies the concept of a "city in a forest." Spelman College, a historically Black college (HBCU), despite its relatively small footprint, acts as a steward for a small but vital portion of this urban forest. This compact campus, a shared habitat for students and a diverse ecosystem of trees, offers a unique living timeline of the institution's history. However, significant opportunities remain untapped in leveraging this environment for research and deeper student engagement with nature. This article describes the unique opportunities and rationale for student-staff collaborations within the Spelman Arboretum, highlighting how such partnerships can bridge the gap between urban students and their natural surroundings, expand scientific understanding beyond traditional disciplines, and foster a stronger sense of community. It presents several examples of activities born from the Tree Map project, a faculty learning community initiative-demonstrating the range of potential collaborations-and planning future projects from them. Furthermore, it invites faculty across disciplines to conduct studies within the Spelman Arboretum, bringing their science into the public eye and transforming the campus into a dynamic urban laboratory. By showcasing the Spelman Arboretum project as a potential model, we aim to inspire a comprehensive approach that utilizes this unique campus environment to ask interesting research questions and unify the college community.