From left — Susan Pickering, Jerry Pickering, IUP President Michael Driscoll
On May 8, Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees presented a resolution of appreciation to Jerry Pickering for his 25 years of service to and leadership of the Allegheny Arboretum.
Pickering, who retired from IUP in 2004 after 35 years as a faculty member in the Department of Biology, will be stepping down on June 30 from his volunteer role as the executive director of the Allegheny Arboretum after 25 years of service.
The Allegheny Arboretum, established in 2000, is a living museum devoted to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of trees, shrubs, and vines. It consists of the entire 354-acre IUP campus, which is home to 1,200 trees, representing 104 tree species; the Allegheny Arboretum officially became part of the university in 2005.
The Allegheny Arboretum is a member of the Pennsylvania Public Horticulture Coalition and has been recognized nationally for its standards of professional practices and for its beauty. It is overseen by the Allegheny Arboretum Board, which provides guidance in meeting the arboretum’s goals and objectives. Its projects are funded through private donations and grants.
“Dr. Pickering has been a lifelong champion for education and for student success, for caring for the environment, and for the betterment of IUP and the Indiana community,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“His passionate leadership of the Allegheny Arboretum, and its related projects—including Confluence Discovery Park and Fern Hollow—are creating transformational change for the university and the region,” President Driscoll said. “The Allegheny Arboretum will continue to delight and inform far into the future. This resolution is well deserved, and I join the Council of Trustees in thanking Dr. Pickering for his dedication to IUP’s Allegheny Arboretum.”
The resolution recognized Pickering’s key role in the Allegheny Arboretum achieving Level I accreditation in 2014 from the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum, and that during his leadership, the Allegheny Arboretum was ranked tenth in a 2015 Best College Reviews listing of the 50 most beautiful college arboretums.
It also recognized his leadership in identifying the Confluence Discovery Park site and Fern Hollow.
Fern Hollow is a niche garden in the grassy area next to John J. and Char Kopchick Hall designed to demonstrate the horticultural use of native ferns, fern allies, and flowering perennials. It also will display educational materials.
Confluence Discovery Park is sited along Oakland Avenue, adjacent to IUP’s Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex. A former industrial brownfield, plans call for Confluence Discovery Park to become a multiuse educational facility, supporting the Allegheny Arboretum’s primary goal of education as an outdoor classroom and laboratory for various programs at IUP and area schools.
The park site marks where Marsh Run flows into Stoney Run, which ultimately flows to the Conemaugh River, a major tributary to the Allegheny River. The master plan for the park, completed in 2019, includes restored streams, new ponds, riparian forests, mesic meadows, and naturalized plantings.