UTICA, NY – The Arbor Day Foundation announced it is honoring SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) with a 2019 Tree Campus USA® recognition as a result of the institution’s commitment to effective urban forest management.

"Tree Campuses and their students set examples for not only their student bodies but the surrounding communities, showcasing how trees create a healthier environment,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Because of SUNY Polytechnic Institute's participation, air will be purer, water cleaner, and your students and faculty will be surrounded by the shade and beauty the trees provide.

The Tree Campus USA program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. SUNY Poly achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and student service-learning project. Currently, there are 385 campuses across the United States with this recognition.

"It's an honor to be recognized again as a Tree Campus USA because of our staff and faculty's efforts to promote healthy trees and engage students in environmental stewardship,” said SUNY Poly Biology and Chemistry Department Lecturer Mark Bremer. 

The Arbor Day Foundation has helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and, according to the Foundation, Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested more than $51 million in campus forest management last year. This work directly supports the Arbor Day Foundation’s Time for Trees initiative, an unprecedented effort to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities and inspire five million tree planters by 2022. Last year, Tree Campus USA schools collectively planted 34,515 trees and engaged 33,432 tree planters who helped work toward these important goals.

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About SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly)
SUNY Poly is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience programs at its Albany campus, and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica campus; thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts billions of dollars in high-tech investments and hundreds of corporate partners since its inception. For information visit www.sunypoly.edu.

About the Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is a million member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information is available at arborday.org.