As it did with much of the region, 2021’s Hurricane Ida battered the Temple Ambler campus. The storm’s wind-hail-rain legacy was $10 million in damage. But it also left a unique opportunity for horticultural experts to guide replenishment and renewal. Susan Snyder, with The Philadelphia Inquirer, branched out to report what experts are now learning there.

The EF2 tornado that spun from Ida chewed up vegetation large and small in its arboretum and field research station.

Trees were particularly vulnerable; some had stood amid the dorms, classrooms, and labs for more than a century.

But a replanting effort has already replaced 150 of them.

And even their cleanup was given environmental overtones; wood reclaimed from smashed trunks and branches was milled into lumber for animal habitats.

The faculty and students now see their academic surroundings as a “disturbance lab,” an ecological lesson in devastation and renewal. Given the long timeline of Mother Nature’s healing, researchers are using time-lapse video to chart the resurrection.

The wind-sheared location has even been a draw for new students seeking first-hand witness to a large-scale environmental healing.

Ambler enrollment is up by 1,100, reported Vicki Lewis McGarvey, vice provost and campus director.

“The additional research opportunities out here and hands-on learning opportunities are just bringing more classes out here,” she said.

More on Ida-stricken Temple Ambler campus a year later is at The Philadelphia Inquirer.