The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum at Rice University

Rice's Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum hosted the St. John's School AP Environmental Science class at the Johnson Owl Deck to learn about urban restoration and biodiversity. The students learned how constructed wetlands clean stormwater while also providing habitat for native wildlife.

The students had great questions! It was exciting to have so many young people interested in green infrastructure and sustainability!

We had a fantastic "Swift Night Out" last night with Birds Houston, the Nature Discovery Center, and the Rice Student Birding Club! More than 60 people showed up to help count 362 Chimney Swifts take shelter in the chimney on top of Rice's Tudor Field house.

Chimney swifts spend most of their lives in the air, reaching speeds in excess of 60 mph, and can eat thousands of insects a day. Rice is very lucky to have these winged marvels making a home on our campus!

Despite the hot and dry tail-end of our Houston summer, the new wetland in the Rice University Nature Preserve is holding strong. It is supporting incredible diversity of invertebrates, fifteen species of native, aquatic plants, and a healthy population of mosquito fish. The plants were provided by GreenStar Wetland Plants, who recently visited to see how the wetland was shaping up. We're proud to have received an "A" on our report card!

Many thanks to Rice's Grounds Team and the Rice student club TERRA who came out last week to remove deep-rooted sedge and other invasive species.

A beautiful Great Horned Owl as seen on campus this morning! Don't forget to look up when you're out walking around.
Photo by Brent Moon

It’s spring at the Harris Gully Natural Area!

Exciting things are "growing" this spring at the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum! We're bringing back native ecosystems to campus, just in time for Earth Month!

Urban prairie gives birth to new ecological restoration site at Rice’s Harris Gully Prairie grasses are transported to Harris Gully and other city prairies by volunteers from Rice and the Greater Houston Area.

Rice's 24-hour challenge, one of the largest funding events of the year, starts and ends on March 4th and the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum is participating in the challenge this year!

Funds raised through this challenge will go directly to the Harris Gully Restoration effort. Please help us keep this momentum going!

https://donate.rice.edu/schools/RiceUniversity/rice-24-hour-challenge-2026/pages/wiess-school-of-natural-sciences/lynn-r-lowrey-arboretum/?a=1

The rescued MD Anderson prairie grasses have a new home!

These grasses, who previously provided a "nature prescription" for the Texas medical center, will now be providing their services for Rice's campus community.

The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum thanks everyone who came out on Sunday to rehome the bunch grasses that were rescued from the MD Anderson prairie. We are proud that a part of this special place will continue to live on as a part of our campus.

It was a great day for a prairie rescue!

The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum joined forces with the University of Houston, the Friends of the Columbia Tap Trail, Texas Southern University, the Hermann Park Conservancy, and individuals from several conservation groups to dig up native prairie plants from the MD Anderson prairie. After 13 years of environmental service, the MDA prairie is giving way to a new medical center building. This is not an end however, but instead a beginning as these native materials find homes across greater Houston.

Volunteers loaded a flatbed trailer full of plants who will be making a new home at the Harris Gully Natural Area. These plants will help to not only help us restore native habitat for our urban wildlife, but will also help Rice achieve it's carbon neutrality goals and improve flood detention on campus.

Rice's grounds staff and Arboretum Director made some serious ground (pun intended) getting Rice's Harris Gully Natural Area prepped to receive rescued prairie grasses from the MD Anderson prairie.

The MD Anderson prairie, a project faciliated by the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, the Wildlife Habitat Federation, and several other community conservation groups was meant to last five years. The prairie has now served the patients, visitors, and staff of the Texas Medical Center for 13 years. The time has come for the prairie to give way to a building that will serve Houston's medical needs.

Rice is proud to be able to work with our friends at the University of Houston's Institute for Ecological Resilience and the Friends of the Columbia Tap Trail in the rescue of plant materials from this prairie so it may live on. These plants will be given a new home on our campus so they can continue to provide the benefits of nature to our community!