The Camas High School (CHS) environmental club Green Team will be planting a “Moon Tree” sapling on school grounds sometime this spring.
“A Moon Tree is a…sapling from a group of seeds that were part of a mission to space, and they [NASA] bring those seeds back, they plant them, and those turn into these saplings,” said the Green Team staff advisor and CHS forensics teacher Ali Coker.
The Moon Tree is being received through a NASA program that has been in operation for several years. This is CHS’s first time receiving a sapling as a part of the program. CHS biology teacher Cody Marshall applied for the program last year and CHS was approved to receive a sapling.
The CHS Green Team is an environmentalist club that focuses on keeping the area clean and invigorating local plant life.
“Green Team plants a lot of trees, one of the main things we do to repair riparian zones close to streams and rehabilitate habitats, and when Mr. Marshall applied for the program because he just thought we would be a natural fit because we know how to plant trees, we know how to take care of trees,” Coker said.
The program is entirely free and run by the Washington Department of Natural Resources, which will oversee the planting of the tree and ensure that its growth is researched correctly.
“The main goal is to see how being in space affects the plant growth – the way that seeds know what is up and down is an enzyme that helps them figure out gravity, so one of the research points is to figure out if being in anti-gravity affects those enzymes,” Coker said.
The tree being planted is a Douglas Fir, a native plant, to ensure that a non-invasive species is being introduced. It will likely be planted on a hill behind the bus loading area, pending an overview by the administration team to ensure no power lines or hidden pipes are disrupted by its growth.
The Moon Tree will be planted in spring to ensure that it does not die early into its life during the winter months.
“Green team seems pretty excited about it, it’s gonna be a project that will continue after this year many years into the future, and we’re also gonna be taking data and monitoring it and sending that information to NASA, so it’s pretty cool, we get to be part of something that’s global,” Green Team officer Sophia Johnsen said.
The Moon Tree project has brought in other groups and interests beyond that of just the CHS Green Team.
“We’ve also been starting to work with the local Watershed Alliance that is trying to get established, and some people from the Stream Team organization, who are donating some materials and sending a conservationist to help us plant the tree, which we really appreciate,” Johnsen said.
“This isn’t just about Green Team, the entire school is somewhat involved in it, it’s becoming a symbol for CHS,” Johnsen said.
