The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum at Rice University

Rice's grounds staff and Arboretum Director made some serious ground (pun intended) getting Rice's Harris Gully Natural Area prepped to receive rescued prairie grasses from the MD Anderson prairie.

The MD Anderson prairie, a project faciliated by the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, the Wildlife Habitat Federation, and several other community conservation groups was meant to last five years. The prairie has now served the patients, visitors, and staff of the Texas Medical Center for 13 years. The time has come for the prairie to give way to a building that will serve Houston's medical needs.

Rice is proud to be able to work with our friends at the University of Houston's Institute for Ecological Resilience and the Friends of the Columbia Tap Trail in the rescue of plant materials from this prairie so it may live on. These plants will be given a new home on our campus so they can continue to provide the benefits of nature to our community!

The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum and Rice's Grounds team are grateful to the student and community volunteers who braved the cold weather yesterday to help us with an invasive plant removal workday at the Harris Gully Natural Area. Hand removing invasive species is hard work, but significantly reduces the need for herbicides.

Rice's wetland and prairie complex is shaping up! This progress is only possible because of the support we have from our university community, our neighbors, and the amazing conservation volunteers from the local chapters of the Texas Master Naturalists, Coastal Prairie Conservancy, and the Native Prairie Association of Texas.

It has been an incredible year for Rice University’s Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum (LRLA)! We have welcomed our first-ever Arboretum Director alongside a fantastic new Director of Grounds. Together, these individuals are revitalizing the mission of the LRLA: educating the Rice community about local ecosystems and championing the Arboretum’s role as a "living laboratory" for institutional research.

This year the LRLA hosted a series of outreach events that bridged both science and the arts, including a Moth Night Bioblitz with local invertebrate celebrities, the Moth Posse, “Geeking out with Graminoids” in collaboration with Fondren Library’s seed bank and the Houston chapter of the Native Plant Association of Texas, and “Harvesting Plants and Words, “ a unique poetry-sharing event organized by a student in Rice’s Master of Interdisciplinary Studies program. We also hosted around 80 Houston area Environmental Educators on campus to learn about our campus arbor and green spaces.

Our crowning achievement this year was breaking ground on an ambitious restoration of the Harris Gully Natural Area. This fall marked the completion of a new wetland, the first piece of a wetland-prairie-savannah complex that will be restored on the south side of campus. By reintroducing the historic ecosystems that once dominated Harris County, we are providing students with a unique resource for ecological study through the support of our local biodiversity. Beyond its educational value, this space will also serve as a nature sanctuary for the health and wellness of our campus community.

This work would not be possible without the generous support of our partners: Wildlife Habitat Federation, The Nature Conservancy – Texas, Greenstar Wetland Plants, Rice Architecture, Walter P. Moore, and the advice and expertise of individuals from the City of Houston Natural Resources Management Dept., Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the UH Institute for Ecological Resilience.

We wish everyone a joyful holiday season and look forward to sharing our restoration progress in the coming year!

Happy Earth Week from the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum! We celebrated our human connection to our planet through several events, including a restoration workday at the Harris Gully, a native seed ball making event at Fondren Library, and a native plant giveaway event at the Holistic garden.

Small acts can build to make a big difference!

The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum is hosting another event this week at the Harris Gully Nature Area - this time to remove invasive plant species! This workday will help us prep for the next round of restoration work planned at the site, including the planting of a summer cover crop by the Wildlife Habitat Federation.

See the flyer for more information!

We’re going beyond the trees at the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum!! FLOWERS 🌺 🌹🌸🌼 are a huge part of the Arboretum as well! Look here ⬇️ to see just a few of our beautiful flowers!
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Photos by Cin Ty Lee and Rachel Dziuba Cathcart

We had a great evening collecting nighttime lepidopterans (and their friends) at yesterday's Moth Night event! Thanks to the Houston "Moth Posse" for a fun evening of exploration at the Johnson Owl Deck on Rice's campus!

The Harris Gully Natural Area (HGNA) is a green space on Rice's campus that is a part of the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum. Over the past few months, the HGNA has been growing crops, including the radish in the below image! The cover crops, planted by the Wildlife Habitat Federation, will help recover nitrogen and carbon to the soil, which will better support the restoration of the site with native plant species next fall.

If you're interested in supporting our work to return native ecosystems to Rice's campus, please consider donating to the 24-hour challenge that is taking place today!

https://www.givecampus.com/schools/RiceUniversity/rice-24-hour-challenge/pages/wiess-school-of-natural-sciences/lynn-r-lowrey-arboretum

The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum has been added to Rice's 24-hour fundraising challenge! Donations to the Arboretum will go towards the prairie and wetland restoration efforts that is currently taking place within the Harris Gully Natural Area (a part of the Arboretum), the acquisition of new species, and the establishment of a fund to support student interns who will be researching the health and status of our campus trees!

The Lowrey Arboretum plays a significant role in Rice's educational mission. Please join us in supporting this valuable resource that connects students to Houston's natural heritage!

Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum Join me in supporting Rice University and make a gift to the 24-Hour Challenge!

DID YOU KNOW? 🌳 The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum just celebrated 2️⃣5️⃣ years! Here are some highlights:

➡️ Dedicated on March 18, 1999 🎉
➡️ Resource for education, research, and conservation 📚
➡️ Home to roughly 4500 trees 🌳
➡️ Two of our trees went to the moon on the Apollo 14 Mission 🚀
➡️ Currently working on restoring the Harris Gully Natural Area (HGNA) 🌿
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Pictured: Lynn R. Lowrey; Students in the Prairie, Campus Walk Outside of Duncan Hall, Students Surveying Trees; Founder’s Court Tree; Apollo 14 Mission; Students Assisting in HGNA Restoration Project

Happy International Day of Forests! Forests both urban and "wild," deserve our protection, respect, and love!

DID YOU KNOW?💡BIOS 310 students are surveying campus trees this semester! 🌳📝 Their efforts include:
- Measuring tree height, circumference, diameter, age, and canopy 🌿
- Learning GIS software to update the campus tree map📍
The campus tree map details all the campus trees using ArcGIS software and will soon be widely available!
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For more information, contact [email protected] (Dr. Cassidy Johnson) or visit arboretum.rice.edu
Pictured: Loblolly Pine near Main entrance 2; Students measuring tree circumference near Main entrance 2; Students measuring tree height near Main entrance 2; Tree canopy; Screenshot of Campus Tree Map