Connecticut College exists in a singular environment known as the Connecticut College Arboretum, which offers a conservation classroom unique among liberal arts institutions. The arboretum’s diverse 750 acres include the landscaped grounds of the college campus as well as the surrounding plant collections, natural areas and managed landscapes. The institution distinguishes itself by a long-standing commitment to conservation and supporting research and teaching in ecological and environmental studies.

The arboretum was established in 1931 as the Connecticut Arboretum on 60 acres. Acquiring land throughout the years, all 750 acres of college property became part of the Connecticut College Arboretum in 1996, with the main campus landscape managed as a plant collection. Plant collections include the campus landscape of 120 acres of trees and shrubs from around the world; the native plant collection, 30 acres of woody plants and wildflowers indigenous to eastern North America; and the three-acre Caroline Black Garden with a diversity of woody plants in a garden setting. Professional curatorial techniques, such as mapping, inventories, labeling and computer databases, are used to keep track of the thousands of specimens now part of the arboretum collections. Labeled plants, guided tours, workshops and publications are part of the collection interpretation program.