Freshman gathered together in Manzanita Lawn as part of a community based learning in partnership with CSUN Sustainability to plant 10 new trees, facing 37 mph winds at 10 a.m.

Today was the last UNIV 100 section to participate in the urban forestry module, which resulted in a total of 50 trees being planted across the campus.

Aspen Coty, Sustainability and Zero Waste Coordinator within Energy and Sustainability, oversaw the collaboration with University 100 classes that chose to participate in an urban forestry module.

“We have the students out, they learn about trees, they learn about Tree Campus, they learn about grounds, and then they come out and help us plant them,” said Coty.

The CSUN Sustainability website states the school has been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus for 10 years beginning in February 2015. In order to maintain accreditation, Coty says the school has to meet standards each year such as the number of trees on campus and how they are managed.

“I work with our grounds team very closely, they’re obviously the ones that maintain our trees and all of our landscaping,” said Coty. “We work with them to go and find locations like this that are kind of sparse of trees and shade, which is a big part of Urban forestry.”

The grounds crew pre-dug the holes to make it easier for the students to plant the trees. “We have 30-something grounds workers for 350 acres, so it’s super efficient to have 25 students to come out and help us backfill the dirt,” said Coty.

CSUN Sustainability’s next tree planting event will be in April for Earth Month which will be open to the community.