Overseeing 3,543 trees on a 228-acre college campus is a daunting task, but an interactive
tree story map completed by Germán Silva during his senior year at Stanislaus State is helping
university staff meet the challenge while serving as an educational tool for botany students.
“It was a complicated project, but very rewarding when the final product was completed,” said
Silva, now a graduate student at University of California, Santa Barbara, who developed the map
using geographic information systems (GIS) technology as an intern in the Capital Planning and
Facilities Management department. “In the beginning, I was barely introduced to web mapping.
But once I had the web map created and linked to the database, and everything was functioning
properly, it was very exciting.”
The final map, posted on the Stan State website, shows an aerial photo of the campus with
each tree clearly defined. When users select a tree, they can view pop-up boxes that contain the
common name, Latin name, a photo, tree characteristics and other useful information. The only
trees not on the map are those within a small teaching orchard near the Trans-California Pathway
Project.
The electronic map is used regularly by facilities staff members who need an accurate tree
inventory to manage the campus landscape. The map is also used by botany students working on
tree identification, specimen preparation and DNA barcoding projects.
Silva is quick to share credit for the map with students who worked on it before he did. The map
began in 2011 as a geography class project by alumnus Don Rajewich, who used GIS to catalog
and record the locations of the majority of campus trees and create a paper map. In 2016, the map
and tree catalog were updated and expanded by alumnus Juan Gutierrez, who preceded Silva as a
facilities intern.
When Silva started his internship in June 2017, the paper map had been scanned as a PDF and
stored electronically, but it wasn’t accessible to people with visual access needs.
“I told Germán we really needed to come up with something accessible,” said Mary Van Eyk, a
specialist in the facilities department. “And Germán said, ‘I just saw something that might be the
answer.’ He made a presentation of what he envisioned with examples of similar projects, and it
went from there.”
Silva proposed an online, interactive map that could be posted on the Stan State website
and would be compatible with the screen reading software used by people who have visual
access needs.
While planning the map’s design, Silva expanded the original tree list into a detailed database
and, in the process, he learned a lot about trees.
“It had to be a project of patience for Germán because you can’t identify some of the trees until
they are blossoming,” said Julia Reynoso de Valadez, director of Capital Planning and Finance.
That meant Silva had to wait for some trees to blossom so that he could collect flowers to make
accurate identifications.
Silva worked with Stuart Wooley, professor of botany, and Andrew Gardner, assistant professor of
botany, to ensure that he identified the trees correctly.
He is planning on a career in coastal or forest management and sees the map project as an
important component in his portfolio since it shows he already has valuable skills and experience
in managing natural resources.
“That is exactly what we are hoping to accomplish with this internship program,” Reynoso de
Valadez said. “The program has the dual purpose of fulfilling a campus facility need and helping
the progress of our students.”