Mississippi State adds 2,000 trees to campus landscape, transforming university’s ‘great outdoors’

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s landscape team has planted more than 2,000 trees over the past five years, strengthening the university’s canopy and advancing its current strategic effort to optimize the university’s outdoor environment.

Trees frame MSU’s Junction near Davis Wade Stadium. (Photo by Cameron Mazingo)

From majestic native hardwoods to decorative flowering species, the varied tree plantings are creating and enhancing shaded spaces for students, faculty and visitors on the campus recognized for 12 consecutive years as a institution.

“With every tree we plant, we’re thinking 20, 30, even 50 years into the future,” said Saunders Ramsey, executive director of Campus Services. “It’s about creating a landscape now that future generations of Bulldogs can also enjoy—places to walk, study, gather and connect with nature.”

This summer, as Mississippi has experienced a severe heat wave, the benefits of trees are especially noticeable. Trees reduce rising ground temperatures and cool shaded areas by as much as 10 degrees, but the value doesn’t stop there.

“Trees do so much more than provide shade,” said Jim Bo Hearnsberger, associate director of Campus Landscape. “They clean the air we breathe, help manage stormwater, create habitats for wildlife, and reduce energy use by cooling buildings and sidewalks. It’s a lasting return on investment for the entire campus community.”

Trees line Bailey Howell Drive near Zacharias Village on MSU’s north side of campus. (Photo by Grace Cockrell)

Ramsey echoed Hearnsberger’s point of view on how landscapes are vital to the university’s infrastructure plan.

“Trees are one of the most valuable investments we can make for the future of our campus,” Ramsey said. “They shape the way people experience Mississippi State.”

Hearnsberger’s team carefully selects and places trees to maximize impact, focusing on high-traffic walkways, gathering areas, parking lots, and new developments —places where shade, beauty and comfort matter most.

One of those places is the university’s newest green space—McCarthy Quad. Opening this fall adjacent to the new Jim and Thomas Duff Center, it will feature a mix of nearly 50 newly planted Nuttall and Willow Oak trees. The university also has added in recent years new trees along the College View connector, around Chadwick Lake, and at Partnership Middle School as part of annual Arbor Day celebrations.

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