Do Now Blog: Final topics

1. Should genetic modification be used to restore the American Chestnut to eastern forests?

American Chestnuts were the dominant tree species of eastern forests in the United States.  An invasive fungus was unintentionally introduced and caused a mass mortality in the early 1900s.
Genetic engineering may allow the development of American Chestnuts that are disease resistant, and could be reintroduced.

One side:  Genetic engineering should not be used to re-construct nature because we don't know the consequences
Other side:  Genetic engineering has the potential to help restore ecosystems that have been impacted by human actions.

How about bringing back extinct species like the Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet, or Ivory-billed Woodpecker? Could be linked to other previous blog posts:

• "Should we bring species back to life?"
• "Would you buy a genetically engineered per?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE7KkaVrw3g

2. Does wildlife have a place in densely populated human cities?

One side:  Worry over human-wildlife conflicts (car accidents, disease, trash)
Another view:  Humans are part of nature, and should share habitats with other animals

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDGzXpei8k

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators

Earlier on in the second Science and Art Day on Wednesday, I heard back from someone at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the organization that Bob recommended to me. The monthly meeting was that night and I had to make a quick decision whether I was going to leave my drawing class early to get there or not. Thankfully, my instructor also felt that it would be a great networking opportunity for me and allowed me to go, and off I went! Rolling hills of Piedmont in the morning, concrete jungle of DC in the evening.

Science + Art Day Part II

During the second Science and Art Day for Cornerstones students I had some wonderful yellow wool yarn for students to see! Felicia was kind enough to being me some forsythia to display with it.

Forsythia next to the color dye it makes

Golden shades between different types of yarn

Do Now Blog: Potential Topics

Do Now is a blog run by KQED, a media organization of the Northern California region focused on television, radio, digital media, education, and community. The Do Now blog poses current issues weekly in a format conducive to audiences commenting and sharing opinions via social media outlets.

KQED logo from here

 Below are a few topics that I may develop into a Do Now blog post:

Meeting Bob Tope

On the first Cornerstones science and art day, I was able to meet with scientific illustrator and photographer Bob Tope. Though I have tried to meet with other scientific illustrators, it's never worked out! Bob was such an inspiration to talk to; he gave me a run-down of his career and some sound advice on how to be successful in the field.

Science + Art Day

On April 6th I joined a group of artists at ES who were setting up demonstrations for freshmen in the Cornerstones program. The students are currently enrolled in their final seminar centered around the intersection of science and art, a favorite topic of mine which I learned about in their shoes three years ago! I talked to students about my own project, the process of natural dyeing, and weaving.

Visions of Nature table set up for weaving and dyeing

Ecoart and Science Lecture: Reading the River, Basia Irland

Last Thursday I finally attended one of the Eco Science + Art Lectures, "Reading the River." Basia Irland is a University of New Mexico professor, artist, poet, sculptor, author, and activist working on water quality projects around the world.

A number of her projects stood out to me, one of them being the "Desert Fountain" project in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Made of copper replicas of her own hands, this fountain captures water within a rainwater collection unit and returns it to the water table. I like that she took into consideration the area's susceptibility to drought and chose not to waste water by pulling from the nearby depleted water sources. This piece reminds me of the "Urban Rain" installation in San Jose, CA by eco artist Jackie Brookner in which rain water is directed onto a stainless steel "Thumbprint filter" sculpture. Both pieces use the human hand as the receiving end of the water before it returns to the earth. This is an interesting concept because it seems that water is almost always affected by human touch, whether through runoff, point source pollution, acid rain, etc.

Irland's "Desert Fountain"

Final Egg Mass Count

Went out to ES today to do some birding, to hike around and see what's new, and get a final egg mass count. On the upper pond, we came across some mink scat (lot's of fish scales) which smelled musty and very much like garlic. One of my goals is to one day be able to detect the smells of different mustelids (skunk, mink, otter, etc.)

Mink scat with plenty of fish scales