In the eight years that he has been showing his plants at the Philadelphia Flower Show, Temple Ambler Horticulture student Brandon Huber has garnered more than 250 ribbons. His extensive and diverse collection of exotic plants includes a hanging begonia, a climbing onion, a variegated ivy and a “corpse plant," which gives of a stench of rotting meat when in full bloom.

In the latest installment of the Temple Made student profile series, meet Denise Racquel Smith, a 31-year-old horticulture major with a passion for plants. She has overseen the planting of native trees in Fairmount Park, helped build shade houses at Temple Ambler, worked to restore a meadow in Elkins Park, studied the Philadelphia region's lichens and held botanical samples collected by Lewis and Clark.

A study led by Temple undergraduate student Mary Wolfe and Department of Geography and Urban Studies Associate Professor Jeremy Mennis found that well-maintained vegetation lowered the rates of certain types of crime, such as aggravated assault, robbery and burglary, in urban neighborhoods. The study was funded by a Temple CARAS (Creative Arts, Research And Scholarship) Program grant, established by the Provost’s Office to support undergraduate research.

Temple's Office of Veteran's Affairs has designated November as Military Pride Month, an opportunity for the university community to honor students, faculty and staff who have served or are serving in the U.S. armed forces. As part of the month-long recognition, Temple will host Veteran's Appreciation Day on Friday, Nov. 9, with 11 a.m. ceremonies at both Ambler and main campuses.

Beginning Monday, August 27, the Shuttle Bus service from Ambler to Main Campus will run from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The last bus departing for Main Campus will leave the Ambler bus shelter located near East Hall at 5:30 p.m. The Shuttle Bus service from Main Campus to Ambler Campus will operate from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The last bus departing Main Campus for Ambler will leave 12th and Polett Walk at 6:30 p.m. There will continue to be Shuttle Bus service between the Ambler Campus and the Ambler Train Station for access to the SEPTA Lansdale-Doylestown/Center City trains.

A babysitting camp hosted at Temple Ambler teaches prospective babysitters important skills for caring for infants and toddlers, including how to hold, feed and burp them and how to change a diaper. The program has the added benefit of introducing middle and high school students to life on a college campus.

Julia McCabe, M.S. Community and Regional Planning. At Temple Ambler, McCabe, 36 from Upper Dublin, Pa., is president of the Temple Planning Student Organization, co-chair of the Ambler Campus Sustainability Council and a research assistant with the Center for Sustainable Communities.

Experts at Temple's Ambler Arboretum say this winter’s unseasonably warm weather has created confusion among local flora and fauna. Early spring bloomers’ growth cycles are happening three to five weeks early, according to director Jenny Rose Carey.

Philadelphia's Center City District recently rededicated Chestnut Park as John F. Collins Park in honor of the internationally recognized landscape architect and founding chairman of Temple’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture. Collins, who died in August, spent decades designing and significantly adding to Philadelphia’s greenways.

In a recent study published in Mind, Brain and Education, researchers at Temple's Infant Lab found there are benefits to playing with that old toy classic — blocks. The researchers found that when playing with blocks under interactive conditions, children hear the kind of language that helps them think about space, such as "over," "around" and "through."

Held July 5 through 8 at the Ambler Campus, the camp hosted a full slate of young wizards and witches ready to put on the sorting hat and join House Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin.