Arboretum Drainage Maintenance Project

An Oak Ridge area contractor spreads out a new concrete splash pad below one of the Arboretum’s waterfall drainage structures.

The finished concrete splash pad will arrest erosion issues and better manage storm water flow off of the parking lot area.

The UT Arboretum waterfall drainage structures were part of a larger Forest Resources Research and Education Center concrete project. Several drainage structures within the Arboretum area were refurbished with concrete pads to arrest previous erosion issues and manage future storm water flow from the parking lot area. Kevin Hoyt, Center Director, coordinated the first phase of the project working with the FRREC staff and an area contractor in December, 2011. The second phase of the project will entail filling in, seeding and beautifying other eroded ditch areas, and is scheduled for completion sometime this spring.

Partitioning in Trees and Soil (PiTS) Part 2

FFREC Employee Mike Trammel begins Ditch Witch operations to establish trench work around the PiTs research project Dogwood sample trees.

ORNL Research Team members begin the process of preparing the trench work and installing PiTs Dogwood sample tree monitoring devices.

The UT AgResearch Forest Resources Research and Education Center (FRREC) recently co-operated with an Oak Ridge National Lab research team on establishing a second PiTs field research study site (located within the Center’s 1996 Dogwood Provenance study area) for developing carbon partitioning routines in existing ecosystems. The study objective is to improve carbon partitioning processes based on previous plant partitioning models tested against field observations and manipulations. Read about the PiTs Project Part 1 >>

Arboretum Society Trillium Planting Work Day

UT Arboretum Society volunteers planted 50 Trilliums along the steps leading to the Lost Chestnut Trail.

Society volunteers include: Janet and Bob Cushman, Ken Farrell, Stacey Fuller, Evelyn Lorenz, Peggy Mahoney, Bob Reed and Craig Voris.

On December 22, 2011, eight UT Arboretum Society volunteers planted 50 Trillium luteums donated by Craig Voris of Dyrad Woodworks, a seed-propagated trillium nursery in Loudon, TN. This is the second year that the UT Arboretum has benefited from Craig's generosity.

After selecting the planting locations and giving the volunteers specific instructions, planting of the 8-year old trilliums began. In the spring, visitors can look for the yellow blooms on either side of the wooden steps leading to the Lost Chestnut Trail, south of the Valley Road. Society trillium planting volunteers included: Janet and Bob Cushman, Norm Dobbs, Ken Farrell, Stacey Fuller, Evelyn Lorenz, Peggy Mahoney and Bob Reed.

UT Forensic Academy Training Session

Before and after pictures of a late model Ford Explorer show the destructive power that car bombs can inflict when rigged by professionals (good guys and bad guys).

The UT Forest Resources Research and Education Center – Oak Ridge Forest unit was the site for a car bomb training session on November 9, 2011. The session focused on detonating various explosive devices and post-bomb crime scene investigation techniques which are part of the National Forensic Academy's (NFA) 10-week training program. Professional bomb squad officers from the Knoxville Police Department acted as instructors for the class which included over 30 law enforcement professionals from around the country. Read more about the National Forensic Academy and UT's role in this program.

Read more news. . . News Archives