Seeing Through the Trees

McKeldin Mall’s tree-lined walkways have been a signature feature of the campus for generations. But as many of the trees have aged, hidden problems may be threatening their health. The university’s Office of Facilities Management is using a revolutionary technique to spot disease and fungus beneath the trees’ bark.

Maryland is the first university to employ a new radar imaging technology, billed “an MRI for a tree,” to find out what lies inside the trees. Combined with the results of upcoming root scans, the X-rays will reveal at-risk trees before it’s too late to save them.

“Fungal invasion from the ground attacks both the roots and internal trunk, literally eating away the wood,” says Tony Mucciardi, adjunct professor in natural resource sciences and landscape architecture and owner of TreeRadar Inc., which patented the tree X-ray technology. “This compromises a tree’s structural integrity and makes it a candidate to fall in even a moderate wind.”

In the survey’s preliminary stage, students from urban forestry and environmental sciences classes worked with facilities management to identify all the trees. Using a global positioning system, they recorded the species, size, condition and placement of 3,400 trees.

“We need trees to protect soil and make the air pollution-free. But more than that, these trees really define our landscape. Having those willow oaks line our walkways gives us a sense of community,” says natural resources and landscape architecture professor Marla McIntosh, whose students are working on the survey. —AS

Getting DWI Offenders Off the Road

Marylanders may now feel safer when they hit the road thanks to a new program aimed at saving lives.

Amid an increase of alcohol-related auto fatalities, the Maryland Department of Transportation looked to Kenneth H. Beck, an expert in traffic safety and professor in the College of Health and Human Performance, to develop a unique curriculum geared to help law enforcement.

“The program came about in order to help the police be able to make more and better DWI arrests, to have that be a high priority and to upgrade their level of commitment to reach that goal,” Beck explains.

The training aims to combat an alarming trend. Over the last few years, the number of alcohol-related fatalities in Maryland has increased while nationwide the number has been dropping steadily.

And it’s not only lives that will be saved. Including lawsuits and prosecution costs, alcohol-related crashes cost more than $140 billion to society annually, says Beck.

Two dozen experienced law enforcement officers from across the state participated in the weeklong program held at the university in September. A previous class took place in May and a third is in the works.

The rigorous session was “designed for police officers to raise their skills to a new level” while serving to complement the training that they have already received, says Tom Gianni, law enforcement program coordinator for the Maryland Highway Safety Office.

Officers walk away from the training better suited to handle DWI arrests, from the moment they begin patrolling the streets all the way through their day in court.

“Cases are becoming more and more complex and this training helps [law enforcement] prepare for those complexities,” says Gianni.

The program, the first of its kind in the nation, included hands-on workshops, a mock court and featured instruction by university professors, prosecuting attorneys and various experts in alcoholism.

“This training can help make the best police officers in the state even better,” says Stacey Green, assistant state’s attorney for Anne Arundel County.

Participants in the program were not the only ones benefiting. “Any time we can increase the effectiveness of law enforcement, the public stands to gain,” Gianni says. —JMR

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