Center for Biodiversity Part of Eco U Tradition

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay—known as Eco U since its founding in 1965—sits in a unique location, overlooking the bay of Green Bay. It’s home to the 290-acre Cofrin Memorial Arboretum, which provides valuable habitat and ecosystem resources for students and faculty conducting research.The hub of that research activity is the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, which opened in 1999.

“We’re fortunate to have such a variety of materials and habitats available to us,” said Bob Howe, Director of the center and Chair of Biology Department.

UW-Green Bay Biology student Tamara Kancoglu enjoys the outdoor classroom found within the 290-acre Cofrin Memorial Arboretum.

The center serves as a regional clearinghouse of information and resources for professional biologists, naturalists, educators and local private enterprises. It oversees the Cofrin Arboretum; the Richter Museum, which houses more than 50,000 animal, fossil, mineral and anthropological specimens; the UW-Green Bay Herbarium, which includes more than 35,000 pressed plant specimens; the UW-Green Bay Greenhouse; and five natural areas that total more than 1,200 acres of ecologically important habitats including forest, wetlands and beaches.

The incredible resource is thanks to the philanthropic spirit of the Cofrin family. In 1975, the children of John Cofrin created an endowment to honor him and their grandfather, Austin Cofrin (founder of Fort Howard Paper) to create trails and add plantings to the arboretum.

See more in the Foundation report: Center for Biodiversity Part of Eco-U Tradition – Impact Of Gifts