White Tern and me, Midway Atoll, 2015, photo by Angela Hanson
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ABOUTMy passion is connecting people to nature. I believe this is vitally important because "we will only conserve what we love." (Baba Dioum, 1968). I am most excited when our interactions with nature go beyond intellectual understanding to engage our emotions and get us talking to one another. My enthusiasm for nature and conservation infuses my work in museums and art.
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CONSERVATION & CITIESI’m interested in how people connect with the natural world and how those connections change when we live in cities. Humans have always altered our environments, changing the variety of plants, wildlife, and landscapes available for us to experience. Those changes are intensified and spatially concentrated in cities. Living within urban systems, our sense of what is natural can shift or become constrained. Meanwhile, cities shape the fates of distant places through the ways we grow food, extract and transport resources, and dispose of trash. Those far away changes can feel invisible to us, simply because they are not part of our daily lives.
When natural systems are less available for us to directly observe, it is not surprising to see a drop in environmental literacy and drift in environmental ethos. In turn, this hampers our ability to create cultures of sustainability. These concerns brought me to conservation biology, an area of science that helps us protect species, habitats, and ecosystems. I approach conservation from many angles, having also worked in art, museums, and community participation. |
Arid biome exhibit, College of Biological Sciences Conservatory
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Masked booby, Midway Atoll lagoon, 2015
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FOCUS ON BIRDSMy background includes a number of projects about birds. I particularly enjoy when birds surprise us, providing unexpected, spontaneous opportunities to observe animals interacting with their environment. Even within large cities, particular bird species are abundant. Moreover, birds are relatively easy to observe birds because they fly, sing, and are frequently active during daytime.
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BIRD DIVERSITYWe also enjoy the beauty and diversity of bird life. Of course, bird diversity--estimated at 10 thousand species--varies with geography. Depending on where we live, we will be familiar with different communities of bird species. Bird communities within core urban environments are often dominated by a handful of common species. For example House Sparrows, Rock Pigeons, European Starlings, American Robins, or Canada Geese. This pattern of reduced species richness is one among several themes in my research.
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Canada Goose study, Chicago, Illinois, November 2014
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Albatross colony, Midway Atoll, 2015
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SENSE OF PLACERegardless of which species are present, observing nature engages our senses. Such attention to nature leads us into many thoughtful endeavors, including science, art, and reflecting on our place in the world. Noticing nature is important for our sense of place. In turn, nature's flourishing contributes to our sense of pride in where we live. These ideas inform my work in science, museums, an art.
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CREATIVE PRACTICEIn addition to being a scientist and museum worker, I am also an artist. My artwork explores themes from biology, often employing visual patterns inspired by nature. My art also explores ways in which human activities disrupt natural systems. For example, how will trees in our neighborhoods respond to climate change? Or, how does plastic waste in our environment change over time? And how does plastic waste get from one place to another? I am represented by Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis, where you can see my paintings, prints and drawings.
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"Shape System 2" (detail) gouache painting, 2013
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