Some of the trees in the Ambler Arboretum lost their tops in the September 1, 2021 tornado.According to Ambler Arboretum Director Kathy Salisbury, after the storm, "it looked like little Christmas trees had been scattered around the Arboretum.""They were actually many of the tops of our large conifers," she said. "Besides looking funny for a while, many people might wonder what we expect from our topless trees." The top, called a terminal leader, gives the conifers "the pyramidal shape we have come to expect from our needled friends," Salisbury said. "When this top was broken...
The Temple University Ambler Library Building didn't escape the wrath of the EF2 tornado that ravaged campus on September 1, 2021. Ferocious winds and debris tore holes in the building's roof and blew out most of the large windows, threatening the collection of 130,000 books, periodicals, research material and historical archives inside.
"Our first concern was the care of the materials. That was paramount in our thinking — how to save what we had because we knew there was major damage to a number of books," said Sandi Thompson, Head of the Ambler Campus Library. "We focused...
Temple University Horticulture sophomore Grace Lenart doesn't remember a time when she wasn't outside exploring the world around her.
"As a child, I was always outside, always exploring in the bogs near my house and the swamps and the forest. I feel like in school you are often told 'These are the specific jobs you can have' and you start wondering how you're supposed to fit into this whole outline of how life is supposed to work," said Lenart, who entered the Horticulture program offered by the Tyler School of Art and Architecture after transferring from Bucks County...
Envisioning the future. Planning a career. Achieving personal goals.
These are heavy topics for any student just starting out or making a return to the classroom.
As the newly appointed Assistant Director of Advising and Student Success at Temple University Ambler, Maria Sarmiento wants to help students navigate these important questions while making their decision to come to the Ambler Campus to pursue their dreams.
"I think I embody a lot of the different types of students at Temple. I'm an immigrant; I'm a first-generation student; a person of color," said...
Eric Sphar would be the first to tell you that the road to achieving his degree was less than smooth.
"I started at Boston University initially very sure of myself and got smacked down pretty hard by the reality of it. There were some definite bump in the road when I was pursuing my degree, which is fairly common," said Sphar, who began as Temple University Ambler's new Enrollment Coordinator on November 29. "I think there were likely some things I could have heard from advisors at universities that could have directed me in a way that would have made it all easier to...
On September 1, the Temple Ambler Field Station was confronted with a seemingly impossible question.
How do you continue in-depth research in an ecosystem that has been forever changed by a natural disaster?
The answer: "Tell the story that nature has given us to tell," said Dr. Amy Freestone, Director of the Temple Ambler Field Station.
"Prior to the tornado that swept through the Temple Ambler campus in September, the Field Station had spent the last year establishing the Temple Forest Observatory in what we had called the Old Growth Forest. This is a collaboration...
Nature is dynamic.
Ecosystems across the globe are defined by their disturbance regimes — disturbances that can be caused by storms, floods, fire and species interactions. On September 1, an EF2 tornado spawned by Hurricane Ida proved to be a massive and devastating disturbance to Temple University Ambler.
"Disturbances can reset an entire ecosystem. Understanding resilience to disturbance is a cornerstone of contemporary ecology," said Dr. Amy Freestone, Director of the Temple Ambler Field Station. "As climate change alters the frequency and severity of...
As a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), recipient of the Bradford Williams Medal and recipient of the Award of Distinction from the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, Dr. Lolly Tai is no stranger to accolades.Monday, November 22, however, was something altogether different. During the ASLA's annual conference in Nashville, TN, Dr. Tai, a Professor of Landscape Architecture in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, was presented with the 2021 Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal, recognizing her sustained and significant contribution to...
If you put Christmas trees up as part of your winter holiday celebration, the Arboretum is asking you to consider using a living Christmas tree and then donating it to the Ambler Arboretum.
Living Christmas trees are those that have a root ball or are grown in a container. If you have always wanted to have a living Christmas tree but didn't know where to plant it, now you can contribute to the replanting of the Ambler Arboretum. If you use one every year, consider donating it to the Arboretum this year.
Living Christmas trees require more care than the average cut live...
By Baldev Lamba, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Tyler School of Art and Architecture
"Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. Can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish." — Munia Khan
"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky." — Kahlil Gebran
The tornado on Wednesday, September 1, brought its full fury to Ambler Campus and in a matter of minutes, wiped out many of the canopy trees and their poetry — the heart and soul of the campus landscape.
The tragic loss left us with...
The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania led a Healing Ceremony at Temple Ambler, which was hit by an EF2 tornado on Sept. 1.
The calming rhythm of a drumming circle. Tribal stories as relevant today as the first time they were told. An emotional blessing in the Lenape-Unami dialect. The cleansing scent of burning sage. A dance of friendship and community.
The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania visited Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum to help the campus and the surrounding community heal and re-connect with the land that has been irrevocably scarred by an EF2 tornado...
During the month of November, cadets from Temple's Law Enforcement Training Center, located at the Ambler Campus, will forego their razors to show support for cancer patients bravely undertaking chemotherapy treatments.
"No Shave November," which began in 2009, has become an important tradition with many law enforcement agencies throughout the country, according to Chris Willard, Assistant Director of the Temple Law Enforcement Training Center, Assistant Director of the Park Ranger Law Enforcement Academy and Director of the Temple University Police Academy. Temple's...
Words by: Stephen OrbanekPhotography by: Betsy Manning and Joseph V. LabolitoProduced by: Edirin OputuView the story with images at: https://news.temple.edu/news/2021-09-22/road-recovery-beginsIt's the late afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 1, and Benjamin Snyder, manager of the Tyler School of Art and Architecture's Greenhouse Education and Research Complex at Temple University's Ambler Campus, is about to head home for the evening.The skies have started to open up, and the wind has picked up, too. Despite it just being 5:30 p.m., the entire area has been blanketed with an eerie...
It goes without saying that some things in nature are simply frightening. Coming across a snake in the wild will definitely overheat your fight or flight (mostly flight) response in no time!
Just because something seems scary, however, doesn't mean that it is harmful! Celebrate the fall season in a different way by learning about the science behind the things in nature that may scare you but are essential to their environment.
Temple University Ambler EarthFest: The Science of Scary will go live online beginning Monday, October 25, providing a treasure trove of...
As COVID-19 cases alarmingly continue to rise again throughout the country, Temple University is undertaking a comprehensive community initiative designed to address vaccine hesitancy in underserved populations across Pennsylvania.Temple's COVID-19 Trauma-Informed Workforce Initiative Fund is focused on improving health outcomes among racial and ethnic minority groups, English language learners, and vulnerable populations, including older adults, adults with intellectual and other disabilities or chronic conditions in communities throughout Pennsylvania. The fund is supported...
When students begin classes for the fall 2021 semester at Temple University Ambler, they will be met with a special week-long celebration.
Temple University has planned University-wide Temple Together Weeks of Welcome for students to help them start the year off right by meeting new friends, having fun safely, and acclimating to their campus environments.
"The Week of Welcome is a way for the campus to welcome all of the new and returning students. It gives them a period of spirit and fun as they begin their academic year," said Meg Cranney, Assistant Director of Student...
Tamika Peay has spent her professional career in the service of helping others achieve their dreams and goals."I spent some years after college doing social work investigating child abuse for Delaware County and that was kind of emotionally and mentally exhausting. I knew I wanted to change careers," said Peay, the new Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Relations for University College. "At the time, I relocated to South Florida, which provided me an opportunity to explore some other career paths where I would still be able to help others."Prior to moving, Peay said, "I...
You may not know his face (yet), but if you've visited Temple University Ambler's YouTube channel or social media pages in recent years, you know his work.Samuel Vargas, who recently completed his degree in Film from Temple's Klein College of Media and Communication, has been capturing Temple University Ambler — the people, the places, the research, the creativity, the unique experiences — for more than two years, becoming an integral part of the campus community while doing so."Once I started at Temple, the first thing that I wanted to do was get an internship that...
By Kathy SalisburyDirector, Ambler ArboretumDuring a recent weekend, Ambler Arboretum volunteers participated in a Garlic Mustard Weed and Eat. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is an invasive plant, meaning that it causes ecological harm by outcompeting native plants and changing the ecosystem it invades. In this case, Garlic Mustard can actually change the soil, making it inhospitable for native plants and it releases natural growth-regulating chemicals to stop plants around it from competing. While this plant has evolved with natural checks and balances where it is native...
Years of dedication to her craft have gained Abigail Long national recognition by the Landscape Architecture Foundation.
Long, who recently graduated from the Temple University Tyler School of Art and Architecture's Landscape Architecture program, was named the undergraduate 2021 National Olmsted Scholar. As the undergraduate scholar in this highly competitive program, she also received a $15,000 prize.
"I am ecstatic! Being selected as the National Olmsted Scholar is a tremendous honor. I know how competitive the program is, and to say I was shocked to learn this...
