The University of Oregon’s first lady, Karol Gottfredson, is working on a project to label the trees around campus so that their stories can be appreciated. The project was recently featured in an article in the Register-Guard, titled “Nature’s artwork.”

While the geography department’s Infographics Lab has created a comprehensive “Atlas of Trees” and a brief, self-guided tour of the trees on campus is available through the UO’s mobile app, Gottfredson would like to see the trees labeled like museum art pieces, so that anyone can appreciate their stories while walking through campus.

“I spend a lot of time at art museums, and works of art always have labels explaining them so people appreciate them more, and I’ve even started doing that with art at home,” Gottfredson said in the article.

“I feel the same way about trees — they are nature’s artworks, and people can enjoy them without a label, but they can enjoy them much more if they know something about them.”

The project is currently underway with the financial support of Andrea and Ted Heid, and technical assistance from Dennis “Whitey” Lueck, an adjunct instructor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, and Garrick Mishaga, exterior team supervisor in facility services.

Read the entire article from the Register-Guard

- by Melissa Foley, Office of Public Affairs Communications