Descriptions of arts and humanities projects at LTER sites.
Martin Volaric (UVA Environmental Sciences) & Eli Stine (Music) Researchers studying intertidal oyster reefs are using sound recordings as a proxy for reef activity. During Summer 2018, researchers at the VCR-LTER made a series of recordings with two goals in mind:Credit: Cora Ann Johnston1) Pair sound with environmental measurements to study how reefs respond to… Read more »
As part of their current project, researchers at MCM LTER are writing a detailed study on the environmental history of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The monograph will be available online and published as a book with an academic press. For more information visit the McMurdo Dry Valleys History website.
Each year, art and science teachers are invited to Art and Ecology workshops that link Plein Aire landscape painting and observational drawing to salt marsh ecology and climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems. Nearly 30 teachers per year participate in these professional development opportunities, and over half return for a 2nd workshop. Workshops focus on… Read more »
Biological oceanographer Susanne Menden-Deuer at the University of Rhode Island has an ongoing collaboration with artist Cynthia Rubin. Murals are on display on the doors to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) PI labs, while other art is showcased during exhibits and conferences. Project Status: Ongoing
Several WHOI PIs have participated in the “STEAM” program with Falmouth High School art teacher Jane Baker. The STEAM educational movement advocates for the integration of Arts (“A”) into more traditional grouping of STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). For more information, visit Ann Tarrant’s website. Project Status: Completed
Lisa Grossman‘s work ranges from depicting the role of fire in maintaining the tallgrass ecosystem to traditional landscape studies. Grossman has lectured on her plein air work during the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences capstone course for Kansas State University and the KNZ LTER research group. Her paintings are available at Strecker-Nelson West Gallery in… Read more »
Kansas State University Associate Professor of Art Erin Wiersma creates “paintings” using charred prairie biomass by working directly with the researchers during prescribed watershed burns at Konza Prairie Biological Station. She delivered a public lecture in February 2019 at the Mariana Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University (After the Burn: Artist talk by… Read more »
Credit: Alan DyerElizabeth Dodd‘s creative nonfiction essay “Constellation” draws on a narrative of the observed tallgrass prairie and the night sky. Informed by the patchwork of burned and unburned grassland on Konza Prairie, she contemplates the star constellations named by indigenous plains peoples, their languages, and the phenomenologically-perceived world. The essay is included in the… Read more »
The Tallgrass Artist Residency frequently collaborates with the Konza Prairie Biological Station. For more information, visit the program website. Rena Detrixhe, 2017 Tallgrass Artist in Residence, combines collected or scavenged materials and repetitive process to produce large, meticulous art installations. She uses a poetic understanding of time, material, history, and place to illustrate constant reckoning… Read more »
Artists are enthusiastically embraced and encouraged during their residency at Trout Lake Station. A local artist has served as a science and art champion, and guides the public through small projects at an annual Open House. This public artwork is then displayed at NTL, along with artwork donated by previous artists in residence. For more… Read more »
