Land Use
Vanderbilt University Native Meadow flourishing with collaborative research projects
Apr. 29, 2024—Tucked behind the 6 Magnolia Building on Vanderbilt’s Peabody Campus is what might look to some like a lush garden of weeds. In reality, it’s a strategic Native Meadow full of pollinator-friendly plants. Funded by the Vanderbilt Green Fund in 2021, students proposed filling a meadow with plants native to the Tennessee/Nashville area to increase...
WATCH: 5 sustainability efforts you may not know about at Vanderbilt (Part Two)
Mar. 28, 2024—Did you know that Vanderbilt is carbon neutral? There are sustainability programs going on all over campus that contribute to continually lowering the university’s carbon footprint. Watch chemical engineering major Sarah Siman, Class of 2025, highlight five sustainability efforts at our university that you might not know about. Want to learn about five more? Watch Part...
Vanderbilt greenhouse gas emissions drop 11 percent since last year and 35 percent since 2016, sustainability report shows
Jan. 31, 2024—What you need to know: Vanderbilt University’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped 11 percent overall since fiscal year 2022. Emissions have dropped 35 percent since 2016 (the first year Vanderbilt reported emissions separately from VUMC). Commuting emissions decreased 64 percent between FY22 and FY23 due to increases in telecommuting and greater insights into commuting behaviors. ...
Vanderbilt preserves history through the salvaged remains of the Bicentennial Oak
Jun. 29, 2023—The Bicentennial Oak, the only tree on Vanderbilt’s campus known to predate the founding of the university, fell in November due to age-related decay. Estimated to be about 250 years old, the bur oak was one of the most recognizable trees on campus, and it served as a landmark near Garland Hall for generations of Vanderbilt...
Sustainability, mobility and transportation efforts highlighted in FutureVU FY2022 Progress Report
May. 5, 2023—Vanderbilt University made significant progress toward its FutureVU goals in fiscal year 2022, as outlined in the annual progress report. FutureVU is a high-level, holistic framework for the development of campus’s built and exterior environments. That framework gives direction to campus projects and considers core themes such as community enhancement, connectivity, inclusion, accessibility and sustainability. Highlights from...
New Sesquicentennial Oak Tree joins Vanderbilt’s green canopy
Apr. 26, 2023—As Vanderbilt University dares to grow while observing its Sesquicentennial this year, the campus welcomes a new tree to mark the occasion. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and members of the Vanderbilt community gathered for a small ceremony on April 24 to commemorate the planting of the Sesquicentennial Oak Tree, which is located near Garland Hall and Buttrick Hall. The tree planting follows the recent loss of the Bicentennial Oak,...
LIVING LABORATORY
Apr. 26, 2023—Educational as well as beautiful, Vanderbilt’s arboretum is 150 years in the making In March of 1873, Bishop Holland McTyeire convinced Cornelius Vanderbilt to contribute an initial $500,000 to found Vanderbilt University. By May, McTyeire had negotiated the purchase of several tracts of farmland on a small hill west of Nashville to become the campus....
Volunteers needed for pedestrian safety research on campus
Apr. 3, 2023—In partnership with design firm Gresham Smith, a team of Vanderbilt researchers from the university and medical center are deploying groundbreaking technology to increase pedestrian safety and comfort on campus. This is being accomplished using smart watches that record an individual’s heart rate while walking on and around campus. Changes in heart rate have shown...
Engineering group goes to Israel to study water recycling leader’s operations, research
Mar. 14, 2023—Engineering professors and students will spend their 2023 spring break in Israel to learn about the country’s water recycling programs and bring those lessons back to share with Sterling Ranch, a 21st century sustainable city south of Denver, Colorado, that has doubled as a training site and test bed for Vanderbilt students and professors since 2015. Sterling...
Tree replacement policy will guide sustainability of Vanderbilt’s green canopy
Mar. 1, 2023—Vanderbilt University, whose campus was first referred to as an arboretum in 1879 and is home to nearly 200 species of trees and shrubs, has flourished for nearly 150 years as a green spot amid Nashville’s ever-expanding urban footprint. Now campus planners have developed an official tree replacement policy to ensure that Vanderbilt’s tree canopy is preserved...