On the five-year anniversary of the tornado that transformed the campus landscape and surrounding communities, the Temple Ambler Field Station and Ambler Arboretum of Temple University invite the public to a free event on Tuesday, September 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Bright Hall.

From Disturbance to Discovery: A Living Landscape Five Years Later will showcase how the campus has become a living laboratory for ecological research, student learning, restoration and community engagement and how the community has grown and changed since the storm. Event attendance is free. Register online at http://bit.ly/4wBzwYY. Registration is required.

Since the tornado in 2021, the Temple Ambler Field Station has coordinated long-term research documenting the ecological recovery of the forested area of our 187-acre campus. What began as an emergency response evolved into a living laboratory where students, faculty and community members continue to study how forests respond to disturbance and adapt over time. More than 100 undergraduate research internships have been built around this landscape, giving students the opportunity to contribute to long-term ecological research while helping shape the future of forest science.

Today, the Temple Forest Observatory continues to serve as both an outdoor classroom and a place of discovery, where every season brings new questions, new learning and new opportunities. Current and former student researchers will share how participating in this long-term project shaped their education, careers, and understanding of ecological resilience.

During this same period, the Ambler Arboretum has selected and planted more than 1,000 trees in other campus areas to offset more than 500 trees that were lost. This post-tornado planting effort has focused on replacing lost tree canopy and enriching the Arboretum as an outdoor classroom for students, including the creation of entirely new gardens.

New features include the Climate-Resilient Garden, the Food Forest, the Green Screen, the Vernal Vista, the Waterwise Garden and the Campus Heritage Garden, as well as new oak and maple collections.

The September 1 gathering will include light refreshments, brief remarks by Ambler Campus researchers and Arboretum staff, musical performances inspired by the storm and recovery and a discussion panel representing the campus, Upper Dublin Township and local residents. Attendees are also invited to view student research on display and meet neighbors who have walked their own paths to recovery after the tornado.

The event reflects a simple idea: While the tornado changed the landscape, it was the response of students, researchers, volunteers and the community that transformed it into a lasting legacy of discovery.

The devastation from the tornado does not define this campus or the community; our response to it does. 

Anne Brennan is the Assistant Director for Plant Curation and Community Outreach for the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Mariana Bonfim is an Assistant Professor of Biology and the Managing Director of the Temple Ambler Field Station.