The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum at Rice University

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