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When Dr. David Dammon started as Moraine Valley’s vice president of Administrative Services in January 2025, he began examining sustainability practices on campus. He surveyed employees about what they thought needed attention, and one topic that surfaced was trees. In the last five years, the college has removed 50 trees on the main campus without replacing them.

After assessing the campus grounds, Dammon applied for a three-phase grant from Trees Forever, an organization that assists with tree inventory, removal and planting. The college then hired TERRA Engineering to conduct an inventory and analysis of trees and soil. Information gathered was uploaded to an online program that maps the type and location of each tree across campus. Twenty-five dead or unsafe trees were removed, and native replacement trees will be planted this spring.

“It’s been a big project, and we’ll be active this spring. Many locations on the outer roads have more established trees, so TERRA will ID where we can put the replacement trees,” Dammon explained. “We can only plant in the spring or fall, and we have to record where they’re going. When we add trees, we’ll add that to our digital map.”

Moraine Valley’s campus was designated an arboretum by the Morton Arboretum several years ago. The college is a level one arboretum, but Dammon wants to work toward level two.

Beyond trees, Dammon hopes to revive and update the sustainability staff position to help maintain campus horticulture. Additionally, he acquired grant funding to install LED lights in several buildings and add sensors to fixtures like vending machines to lower energy consumption.

Dammon even restored the college’s Sustainability Committee, inviting all employees to give their feedback on green initiatives across campus. This spring, Dammon aims to restart the community garden on campus and build planter boxes. He also is eager to improve recycling efforts among several other green plans.

“My spring hope is to educate and grow interest in sustainability on campus because it’ll take volunteers interested to make it successful. We want people to actively partake and see what they want to happen for the college,” Dammon added. “I want people to know we’re regrowing interest in what we had, and I have to do my part to move forward with it.”

For news media inquiries, contact Maura Vizza, Moraine Valley communications specialist and sports information coordinator, at (708) 974-5742 or Vizzam@morainevalley.edu.