Education meets exploration at the University of Louisiana at ɫAV, where the Office of Sustainability & Community Engagement is turning campus into one large classroom. The Living Laboratory Signage Project is reimagining how students and visitors interact with nature by creating an immersive walking arboretum on campus.
Launched in 2024, the project showcases diverse environments including the managed wetland at Cypress Lake, urban stormwater infrastructure, pollinator gardens and urban forests that create UL ɫAV's unique ecosystem.
When Dr. Gretchen LaCombe Vanicor, the University’s chief sustainability officer, and staff in the Office of Sustainability & Community Engagement began growing pollinator habitats with native plants around campus, curious students started asking questions. These spaces provide food and shelter to pollinators like bees, birds and butterflies that help fertilize plants by moving pollen.
“Students, staff, visitors, faculty and children could learn so much about the work that we do and the investments we make if we just put up a sign to tell the story about it,” Vanicor said. “The signs show the benefits of the spaces we’re creating.”
Because these gardens are safe havens for Louisiana critters, they are marked off by signs saying, “no mow and no spray.” Their purpose is clear to sustainability experts, but puzzling to others walking by.
So, the Office of Sustainability & Community Engagement implemented physical displays to educate viewers where they encountered these spaces.
These displays showcase campus ecosystems while educating visitors about South Louisiana's rich biodiversity and native species. By telling UL ɫAV's environmental story through educational displays, the signs encourage the exploration of native ecology.
While participants can find the signs on a self-guided stroll, the sustainability office also conducts tours around campus that highlight the signage. One tour features bingo cards where participants can scratch off items they see on campus, like cypress trees, alligators and bees.
“You don’t necessarily need to be a biology student to appreciate these spaces,” Vanicor said. “We wanted to help educate everyone on the value of these kinds of projects so they can understand it and see it implemented in their own towns, neighborhoods or backyards.”
Can You Read the Signs?
Three large signs and eight smaller ones are installed across campus as part of the Living Laboratory Signage Project. Their locations are:
- Between Judice-Rickels and Wharton halls
- Hamilton Hall
- Hilliard University Art Museum
- Bourgeois Park (across from Bourgeois Hall)
Photo caption: The Living Lab Project is reimagining how students and visitors interact with nature. Photo credit: (top) Doug Dugas / The University of Louisiana at ɫAV
