Student Organizations

The Buckthorn Menace, a large scale sculpture installation by artist Jim Proctor, pursues a novel alliance between art and environmental restoration by rendering the wood and roots of the invasive plant species buckthorn into forms resembling gargantuan dandelions in full seed. Constructed on the site of two buckthorn infested areas in Northfield –one in “The Upper Arb” of the Cowling Arboretum and one down slope from the new Science Center at St. Olaf College– this installation is part of a wider community education effort to raise public awareness about the environmental damage caused by buckthorn and other invasive plant species in Minnesota’s natural landscapes and wilderness areas.

This community service project provides a hands-on opportunity to learn about the environmental problems caused by invasive plant species in Minnesota, and to be a part of the only possible solution to those problems – constructive community action!