Description:  Today, Vanderbilt University campus is a green “island” in the middle of urban Nashville. When the university was founded in 1873, the site was almost completely denuded of vegetation as a result of agriculture and deforestation during the Civil War a few years earlier. How did it evolve into its current botanical state, and what were the factors that influenced that development? On this walk, biologist Steve Baskauf will introduce some of the significant trees on campus while discussing the past and future of this man-made oasis.  (For a preview: Vanderbilt arboretum website is https://www.vanderbilt.edu/trees/)

Meeting Place/Time:  Vanderbilt Central Library: 419 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN 37212. Walk from 21st Ave up steps to the front of the building to meet at 1:00 pm Central.  Note Date and Time!

Paid parking at Wesley Place Garage: 1957 Scarritt Pl, Nashville, TN 37212 (off 21st Ave opposite from Central Library). Take Daily parking entrance (not Retail entrance). Price is $3 per hour, but carpooling will help.

Difficulty: Easy (lawn, steps, sidewalks)

Facilities: At Rand Student Center nearby.

Leader: Steve Baskauf phone/ email: 615-476-5827, steve.baskauf@vanderbilt.edu.