Marathon Oil: Fostering Resilient Communities by Planting 100 Trees at a South Texas School

Category Archive: Member Projects

  1. Marathon Oil: Fostering Resilient Communities by Planting 100 Trees at a South Texas School

    Leave a Comment

    Trees provide a wealth of environmental, social, and economic benefits to our homes, neighborhoods, schools, and communities. Marathon Oil, TxN Catalyst Member, understands the impact trees have on the communities they operate in, leading them to partner with Texan by Nature and Trees for Houston to plant one hundred trees across the Kenedy ISD campus, a South Texas district with 700+ elementary, middle, and high school students.

    25 Marathon Oil volunteers and local school officials put boots on the ground and got their hands dirty to plant trees and build a pollinator garden. Aside from the aesthetics, how does planting trees on school grounds benefit students and the community?

    1. Promoting Health: Trees are nature’s superheroes! They purify the air by absorbing harmful pollutants and releasing fresh oxygen for us to breathe. By planting 100 trees, students, teachers, and community members visiting the school grounds can enjoy improved air quality.
    2. Enhancing Biodiversity: Trees are not just beautiful; they’re also vital for supporting diverse ecosystems. Planting trees at schools provides a safe haven for birds, insects, and other wildlife, fostering biodiversity right in our own backyard.
    3. Cooling Effect: As we all know, Texas heat is no joke. But guess what? Trees are natural air conditioners! TxN and TFH planned tree placement around the school grounds to create refreshing shade and lower ambient temperatures.
    4. Improving Water Quantity and Quality: Trees act as natural filters by intercepting and absorbing rainwater. Their leaves, branches, and roots, minimize pollutants and increase the amount of water stored in the ground, supporting clean and healthy water ecosystems.
    5. Boosting Mental Well-being: Nature has a remarkable ability to soothe and uplift our spirits. By bringing more greenery to schools, students can experience a calming and peaceful environment that enhances mental well-being and student achievement.

    The partnership between Marathon Oil, Texan by Nature, and Trees for Houston to plant trees at Kenedy ISD will have a lasting impact on students and the environment. To learn more about Texan by Nature Membership, custom projects, and how to get involved visit https://texanbynature.org/programs/business-partners/ 

    About Marathon Oil

    Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company focused on four of the most competitive resource plays in the U.S. – Eagle Ford, Texas; Bakken, North Dakota; STACK and SCOOP in Oklahoma and Permian in New Mexico and Texas, complemented by a world-class integrated gas business in Equatorial Guinea. The Company’s Framework for Success is founded in a strong balance sheet, ESG excellence and the competitive advantages of a high-quality multi-basin portfolio. For more information, please visit www.marathonoil.com.

  2. ChampionX STEM Day for 200+ Midland-Odessa Students

    Leave a Comment

    Children are innate scientists as they try to experience the sights, scents, sounds, and textures of the world around them. Nature provides countless opportunities for discovery, creativity, problem-solving, and STEM education, a concept Texan by Nature, ChampionX, and the I-20 Wildlife Preserve understand deeply. 

    At the beginning of 2022, ChampionX partnered with Texan by Nature to identify a meaningful way to engage their community in Midland-Odessa.

    “Improving lives is our purpose at ChampionX, which doesn’t just apply to our employees and customers, we also want to ensure we are improving lives in the communities we work in.”

    Eilidh Shaw, ChampionX HR Leader – Permian Basin

    Through the Business Membership program, Texan by Nature proposed a STEM day, which activated local ChampionX employees, two IDEA Public Schools, and the I-20 Wildlife Preserve.

    “The I-20 Wildlife Preserve seeks to engage students of all ages in rigorous outdoor science education and purpose. As the students become comfortable in nature, they learn a sense of place and greater understanding of the natural world.”

    Elaine Magruder, Board President of the I-20 Wildlife Preserve

    The two-day event took 5th and 6th-grade students on a nature walk through the preserve and a series of STEM-focused stations. ChampionX employees and I-20 docents led the 200 students through the stations, teaching them about human interactions with nature, the importance of water to people and the ecosystem, abiotic and biotic factors, and ecosystem adaptations.

    “I really enjoyed seeing the students’ faces light up as they were discovering different parts of nature.  It was definitely very good for my soul.”

    Raul Pando, ChampionX Employee

    A study by Frontiers in Psychology shows that learning outdoors is not just a fun, novel experience for school-age children, but also helps them focus once they return to the classroom. After the STEM Day, students returned to their classrooms with a greater context and understanding of their interactions with nature and are primed to better learn for standardized testing. Through this collaboration, Texan by Nature, ChampionX, and I-20 Wildlife Preserve, were able to impact 200 students from IDEA Public Schools on the STEM day and potentially beyond. 

    About ChampionX:

    ChampionX is a global leader in chemistry solutions, artificial lift systems, and highly engineered equipment and technologies that help companies drill for and produce oil and gas safely, efficiently, and sustainably around the world. ChampionX’s expertise, innovative products, and digital technologies provide enhanced oil and gas production, transportation, and real-time emissions monitoring throughout the lifecycle of a well. To learn more about ChampionX, visit our website at www.championX.com 

    About IDEA Public Schools:

    IDEA Public Schools believes that each and every child can go to college. Since 2000, IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school with 150 students to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free, Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States. Currently, the network serves 75,000 college-bound students in 137 schools across Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. IDEA has been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” and received national rankings on The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report’s Top High Schools lists. IDEA remains on track to uphold its legacy of sending 100% of its graduates to college. 

    About I-20 Wildlife Preserve:

    The I-20 Wildlife Preserve is a 100-acre riparian forest campus in Midland, Texas. It is a wild space – not a park – managed by a nonprofit organization. The 86-acre urban playa lake is the highlight of the wetlands, floodplain thickets, and prairie grasslands – providing abundant avian, wildlife, and aquatic habitat. The urban playa at the Preserve is a treasured ecotourism destination of regional significance and a science education resource of the Permian Basin.

  3. General Motors, Texas Trees Foundation, and Texan by Nature Plant 50+ Trees for Cool Schools Campus in Dallas

    Leave a Comment

    Dallas is ranked 8th by the American Lung Association for the poorest air quality in the nation for ozone and non-attainment for the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Additionally, school campuses in Dallas are some of the hottest and least shaded urban heat islands in North Texas. Over 89,000 children in Dallas are affected by these conditions, but effective solutions exist by using trees as a nature-based solution. Organizations such as General Motors (GM), Texas Tree Foundation (TTF), and Texan by Nature (TxN) recently worked together to combat heat island effects by installing a Cool Schools project. Located in West Dallas, Jesus Molores Expressive Arts Vanguard students planted 50+ trees around the new walking loop to improve tree canopy and air quality and provide shade for recreation.

    The Texas Trees Foundation Cool Schools program participated in the Texan by Nature’s Conservation Wrangler program in 2018 and continues an ongoing partnership through the Texan by Nature’s Conservation Partner program. In late 2021, Texan by Nature met with GM to discuss their Climate Equity Fund, and after learning about GM’s priorities in the DFW area, connected them to Texas Trees Foundation, establishing the collaboration. 

    Trees cool the surfaces of the surrounding environment through shading and offer additional ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, air pollution removal, energy savings, and stormwater runoff mitigation. In addition to environmental benefits, trees and green space help students inside the classroom. The University of Champaign Urbana of Illinois reported that kids who spend more time outside end up paying more attention inside. Trees and nature lower aggression and symptoms of ADHD, and children experience better concentration, complete tasks more easily, and follow directions. This project creates a long-term, lasting impact as thousands of students will reap these benefits for years to come.

    “The generous funding from GM and our partnership with Texan by Nature is a collaborative effort that will truly transform Jesus Moroles Expressive Arts School. We can’t wait for the children to play outside under the cooling shade of the new trees that will be planted. And we are excited to see the students benefit from the S.T.E.M.-based curriculum that will tie into the new outdoor spaces that will be installed.”

    –Janette Monear, President of Texas Trees Foundation

    For more information, visit:

    https://www.texastrees.org | www.texanbynature.org | www.gm.com/citizenship/sustainability 

    About GM:

    (NYSE:GM) is a global company focused on advancing an all-electric future that is inclusive and accessible to all. At the heart of this strategy is the Ultium battery platform, which will power everything from mass-market to high-performance vehicles. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety and security services, can be found at https://www.gm.com.

    About Texas Trees Foundation: 

    Celebrating 40 years of addressing urban forestry issues in Dallas, Texas Trees Foundation has served as a catalyst in creating a reimagined green legacy for North Texas. Scientific research has driven a vision to transform outdoor spaces and to educate the public of the social, economic, environmental, and health benefits provided through urban forestry. With current programs, such as NeighborWoods and Cool Schools, Texas Trees Foundation is taking action to mitigate urban heat through the preservation and expansion of natural green spaces, made possible by tree planting. Since 1982, Texas Trees Foundation has continued to advocate for a cleaner, greener, and healthier Texas. For more information on Texas Trees Foundation programs and projects, visit www.texastrees.org. 

X