In traditional academic settings, scientific research has been reserved for those who want to do science and nothing else. Historically, there has not been any room to explore the world in more than one discipline at a time, but with our pressing need for collaboration across disciplines to find environmental/societal solutions, there has been more emphasis on interdisciplinary research. As we collectively explore these cross-disciplinary pursuits, one sentiment rings true: there are countless ways of being and knowing. As a scientist and artist, I've found that the research process for both are similar; both are fueled by a constant questioning and both include intensive experimentation that fuel our curiosity for our internal and external worlds alike. Through my research experience, I have enjoyed being able to look at organisms under the microscope or in the field, and then coming home to create art that decodes my subjective understanding of biology as I learn the science behind life at play. I aim to maintain this tightly bound relationship between science and art because it builds a multidimensional way of thinking and emphasizes PROCESS rather than RESULTS!

Rooting into process is a form of resistance to a society that only values people for producing work that is monetarily valuable yet has no contribution to the restoration, protection, or growth of oneself, other people, or our ecosystems. As an ecologist, I show up as an artist, a gardener, an outdoorsman, an aspiring healer, and a descendent of the humans and more-than-human that have put me here today. Likewise, when I am making art, I show up as all the other parts that make me, me! I aim to make artworks and conduct research that perpetuate patterns of beneficial symbiosis — rather than extraction — through a maintained sensitivity to the ecology of our mental and physical landscapes.