Artists, Scientists, Practitioners

Artists for 2022 | Scientists and Practitioners for 2022

Artists for 2022

Kilia Llano, Santo Domingo, DR

BIOGRAPHY

Kilia Llano is a multimedia artist born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and currently working in Painting, Urban Art (murals), drawing, installations and digital art. My work is based in identity, how we as a culture address nature and how our surrounding is related to who we are. I studied Fine Arts and Illustration at Altos De Chavón School Of Design (1992) and also got a bachelor degree in Fine Arts and Illustration at Parsons School Of Design (1994), NY among others minor studies at Universitat De Barcelona (Art History) and Unibe University (Art Education) at Santo Domingo. I’ve been painting in the street for almost 10 years in the Dominican Republic but also United States, Colombia, Spain and Italy.

PROJECT

Migrations
Kilia is continuing her project from 2020/2021 painting murals along the path of the Cape May Warbler and attaching QR codes to the murals leading to a new website with information on the Cape May Warbler and her work.

Agency team: International Field Station, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, San Juan Puerto Rico

WEBSITE

Michele Brody, New York

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1967, Michele Brody received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1989 and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1994. Utilizing her strong background in the liberal arts, she creates site-specific, mixed media installations and works of public art that are generated by the history, culture, environment, and architecture of a wide range of exhibition spaces. While living and working in such places as France, Costa Rica, California, the Midwest, Germany, and her home of New York, her art career has developed into a process of working in collaboration with each new community as a means towards developing an interpretation of the sense of a place as an outsider looking in.

PROJECT

Nature in Absentia: Monarch Migrations
Inspired by Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring,” the focus of my project “Nature in Absentia: Monarch Migrations” is to research and produce a creative platform for community members to learn more about the surrounding natural environment of NYC, while regenerating local natural detritus into handmade paper an immersive installation that highlights bio and cultural diversity by collecting family immigration stories.

Agency team: New York City Parks; UFS International Programs

WEBSITE

Ania Upstill, New York

BIOGRAPHY

Ania (they/them) is a queer and non binary performer, director, theatre maker, teaching artist and clown. A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Professional Training Program), Ania’s recent work celebrates LGBTQIA+ artists with a focus on gender diversity. In 2021 and 2022 they have worked in New York and in New Zealand. They created Exotic Blooms, in which drag performers interpreted flowers in the Auckland Botanic Gardens; co-created the Queer ballet Sapphic Late; directed Into the Bush, a queer circus-theatre project; masterminded PROUD VOICES, a queer audio festival that played internationally in three major cities; and Ghost Hunt, a geo-cached audio adventure in New Jersey. They are currently working on Too Much Hair, a musical about gender euphoria created in collaboration with the gender diverse community.

Other performance credits include the solo clown show Transhumance (winner of a Best Weekly Award in Circus and Physical Theatre at the Adelaide Fringe Festival); In Many Hands (Brooklyn Academy of Music); Thou Shalt Not (Thinkery & Verse); and R+J: A Genderqueer/Female Reimagined (Hypokrit Productions). They have toured to Palestine with Clowns Without Borders USA, and have taught clown internationally. Ania has also performed clown and drag acts at venues in New York City including House of Yes, The Duplex and The Tank.

In New York City they have taught for Lincoln Center Theatre, People’s Theatre Project and the Association of Teaching Artists. They are currently pursuing their Masters degree in Applied Theatre at CUNY and are a co-founder of GenderWise, a company that offers educational workshops about gender diversity.

PROJECT

Applying a Queer Lens to Scientific Narratives
From narratives of people who are not at all like us, to interesting shapes and colors, artists encourage us to look at the world differently, or sometimes just more closely. For this residency, I propose to work with the USDA Forest Service – Northern Research Station to examine how a queer arts lens can encourage humans to notice and appreciate the social-ecological systems they are a part of. To do this, I will draw on my digital work placing modern queer voices into historically queer areas of NYC, as well as my work at the Auckland Botanic Gardens with drag performers interpreting summer blooms.

Agency team: USFS STEW-MAP Team

WEBSITE

Tommy Cheemou Yang, New York

BIOGRAPHY

Tommy Cheemou Yang is an indigenous Hmong designer, researcher, and educator focused on insurgent urban and architectural transformations, utilizing inter-disciplinary methods such as fieldwork, oral/public history, and radical mapping.

He completed his Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and holds a Master of Architecture from Parsons School of Design at The New School with Distinctions. He is a recipient of the Alpha Ro Chi Medal 2020 for Design Excellence and multiple awards. His Thesis: The Nuanced -Topia received multiple recognitions along with the NYCxDESIGN Architecture Graduates Showcase 2020 and Eileen Gray Thesis Prize. He taught at Parsons School of Design and is the current Ann Kalla Visiting Professor of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University.

His current work challenges architectural and urban design epistemologies, cultivating conversations on identity, social action, resiliency, and insurgent placemaking. Tommy’s recent works include a collaborative exploration in Memory, Trauma, and Home which was recently supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and an array of community-engaged scholarship ranging from Wisconsin, New York, Thailand, and Taiwan tracing how local embodied practices cascade into large urban transformations.

PROJECT

Reflective Urban Ecologies – The Ecology of Four Chinatowns
The residency explores the importance of storytelling and ethnography in the production of socio-natural-based solutions in frontline communities tackling thematic urban problems related to the architecture and public realm of ethical making and distribution: climate change, pollution, food, distributions, redevelopment, and equity.

Agency team: New York City Parks

WEBSITE

Krystal Mack, Baltimore, MD

BIOGRAPHY

Krystal C. Mack is a self-taught designer and artist using her social practice to highlight food and nature’s role in collective healing, empowerment, and decolonization. Through comestible and social design, Krystal seeks to publicly unpack and heal personal traumas relevant to her lived experience as a disabled Black woman. With her practice, she conceptualizes and constructs spaces and objects that invite the community to engage with food and the natural world in multi-dimensional ways that elicit a sensory call and response, acting as a transformative tool for all. Krystal began her practice as a chef and now approaches this work as a food designer, social practice artist, and herbalist, maintaining regard for African diasporic foodways and following the intuitive ancestral wisdom of the Earth.

PROJECT

i’m Black, But i’m Blue When i’m Not Green
What attracts me to a collaborative residency of this nature is the ability to apply a trauma-informed and artistic lens as a city resident and artist to the scientific research done at USFS Baltimore. I selected the USFS team because I want to get familiar with a group of scientists and researchers focused on regeneration and sustainability in my hometown. By working with them, I hope to create something that will allow city residents to see common ties between urban forest patches and themselves as living vessels of joy, community, and reparation. I hope to walk away from this residency with new colleagues in the USFS Baltimore team and other Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts residents, a deeper understanding of urban forest patches in Baltimore City, and the ability to share that newfound understanding with the community at large through my art practice.

Agency team: USFS Baltimore Urban Field Station

WEBSITE

Nalu Andrade, Honolulu, HI

BIOGRAPHY

Nalu Andrade is a native Hawaiian practitioner who specializes in wood carving. He has owned his business Na Maka Kahiko for 8 years where he sells his wood carved Hawaiian items such as ohe kapala and jewelry. Nalu is involved within the community, teaching wood carving to many of the local schools, colleges, hula halau, and other community groups. Nalu has also traveled to Japan and Washington to teach his wood carving and offers online classes for people all over the world. Nalu resides in Honouliuli on Oahu with his wife and children.

PROJECT

Ho’oilina
His program will focus on mālama ʻāina, which is the Hawaiian understanding of the proper care, growth and stewardship of the ‘āina (the land). The program will foster mālama ʻāina through the traditional Hawaiian values of kūleana (responsibility), ‘ike kūpuna (knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors), and laulima (working together). These values will not only fortify the practice of mālama ʻāina but will simultaneously foster the proper growth of our kēiki (children) since all of those values are essential to becoming a compassionate, diligent, responsible, cooperative, and productive member of society. The program begins with the planting of a native tree at the birth of each child in Hawaii while concurrently working with others on the removal of invasive non-native trees to make room for more indigenous trees and using the non-native trees for other wood carving projects. This will lead to instilling essential Hawaiian values to promote the importance of family, cultural education, and the proper use and care of the land through wood carving workshops. Nalu’s hope is to show the people of Hawai’i that it is possible to work with these government programs to mālama ‘aina and also to pass on our ‘ike kūpuna (knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors).

Agency team: State of Hawaii Urban and Community Forestry Program

WEBSITE

Franklin Cruz, Denver, CO

BIOGRAPHY

Franklin Cruz is a queer latin dancer, poet born in Idaho, raised Texan and polished in Denver. Born from an immigrant family his work has placed him in science museums, environmental spaces, as an emcee and poet for dance & poetry competitions and conferences. He aims for specificity over simplicity, encompassing self love, conservation, immigration and culture.

PROJECT

Grounded Voces
I want to create small  that can be left in public/outdoor spaces that house small altars inside with poetry and can serve as shelter for small vertebrates and ideally bio-integrate into the land organically and spiritually.

Agency team: USFS Rocky Mountain Urban Field Station

Aaron Terry, Philadelphia, PA

BIOGRAPHY

Aaron Terry grew up as a kid with no electricity or running water in the woods of Upstate New York until fate brought his family to Philadelphia, where he grew into the city as a young adult. He works in traditional and nontraditional printmaking, sculpture and sound pieces. He holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Connecticut College and a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. He is an Assistant Professor of Art and Design at the University of Delaware.

PROJECT

Seeding Newtopia
(with Amir Campbell)
Working within the Philadelphia community, “Seeding Newtopia” aims to educate and empower local citizens to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy, natural ecosystem. The project will rely on printed materials (in the form of screen printed, origami envelopes containing native seeds along with instructions as well as details on the benefits of promoting a native plant population: from wild flowers to trees) which initially provide valuable information towards the future stewardship of the local, natural environment (the importance of local plants, how to properly care for them and how to recognize and remove invasive species). These origami seed packets, will fold out into visually, colorful posters representing the local natural world once they have been used.

Agency team: USFS Philadelphia Urban Field Station

WEBSITE

Amir Campbell, Philadelphia, PA

BIOGRAPHY

Amir Campbell a portraiture artist currently pursuing studies as a University of Delaware MFA Candidate. He holds two bachelor’s degrees—one in Communications and one in Fine Arts—from Cheyney University.

His work has been featured internationally in exhibitions such as the World Conference Against Racism, as well as The United Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, Amir was acknowledged by the White House and President Barack Obama for his charitable work contribution to the Totem Rhythms Project, where, alongside his professors Dr. Marietta Madsen and Joel Keener, he airbrushed the genealogy of the Lenape tribe—the indigenous peoples of Pennsylvania.

Not only is Amir a featured artist on the Netflix series, Worn Stories, he has also rendered portraits for various celebrities such as, Spike Lee, Pat Martino, Jymie Merritt, James Poyser and Questlove from Jimmy Fallon’s late night show band The Roots. During the turbulent times in Philadelphia, Amir created a mural on South Street entitled ‘Love Bubbles.’ He is a proud recipient of The Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists awarded by Philadelphia Mural Arts. Further accomplishments include memberships in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the Epsilon Pi Tau International Honor Society for Professions in Technology.

PROJECT

Seeding Newtopia
(with Aaron Terry)
Working within the Philadelphia community, “Seeding Newtopia” aims to educate and empower local citizens to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy, natural ecosystem. The project will rely on printed materials (in the form of screen printed, origami envelopes containing native seeds along with instructions as well as details on the benefits of promoting a native plant population: from wild flowers to trees) which initially provide valuable information towards the future stewardship of the local, natural environment (the importance of local plants, how to properly care for them and how to recognize and remove invasive species). These origami seed packets, will fold out into visually, colorful posters representing the local natural world once they have been used.

Agency team: USFS Philadelphia Urban Field Station

WEBSITE

Richard Johnson, Springfield, MA

BIOGRAPHY

Richard Johnson is a visual artist based in the United States. He graduated from MCLA with a degree in sociology 2014. He is president of an art based nonprofit founded in 2018, Chess Angels Promotions Inc. His goal is to promote positive youth development, positive family relationships, and economic prosperity in the community through visual art.

PROJECT

Be The Change
Since January 2022, I worked with 7th and 8th grade students in the Springfield public school systems teaching them what it means to be the change. It means being a part of the change you want to see in the world. By learning how to appreciate each step on the canvas, I Incorporate teachable moments individuals apply to their own lives. Identifying emotions like stress or anxiety, and practicing creative coping skills that directly deal with those emotions, are important lessons in life. This summer, Local organizations and artists are invited to attend community based events that are geared towards positive youth development. Community members support this project by contributing to the art mural and having a helping hand in creating a positive impact.

Agency team: USFS Springfield Urban Field Station

Hector Resto, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

BIOGRAPHY

My name is Hector Resto and many know me as “Indio”.  I’m 40 years old and I’ve been doing visual art since I was a teenager. In 2001 I started my career as a graphic designer. That same year I was the victim of a shooting in which I was wounded and since then I am a paraplegic.  My faith in Christ, art, and surfing have been and are what keep me on my feet and wanting to move forward and help others get up and live.

PROJECT

This mural has the purpose of positively impacting the place, the surroundings and the life of everyone who passes by. The idea is to identify a wall that is located in a busy place but also that the public has the opportunity to appreciate, interpret and enjoy it. The art will be inspired by the theme of migration. I think it is a topic with many possibilities to carry a great message. Also, the fact that as an artist with functional diversity I move in a wheelchair, I like the fact that people can see that great things can be achieved even going through difficult and “permanent” situations.

Agency team: International Field Station, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Samih Abu Zakieh, Hebron, Palestine

BIOGRAPHY

Artist , Director, Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC)

I am an artist, with good experience in graffiti art and children’s art, and have an important role in training and designing cultural programs for children and youth in art education and in children arts . I have taken part in many conferences in Palestine, Arab countries, and other international conferences and seminars. I am also responsible for many programs for raising awareness and dealing with art and graffiti issues. The aim of these programs is to explore how to use art in a peaceful way, and keep the children of Palestine safe.

•         Member of AFP (Art For Peace) is a group of Palestinian and international artists who work to spread the concept of justice, peace, freedom and human dignity. It also works for peace to the Palestinian and Middle Eastern children through art activities, music, art exhibitions, culturalexchange programs and helping children in conflict areas.

•        I have new art project (100 ways for peace from Palestine)

PROJECT

My art project is always related to Place making — to make a beautiful place around us, and I usually use the artistic tools that make this place a beautiful place made by community members and children. I think this comes through the environmental awareness programs that we do at PCAC  in cooperation with USDA Forest Service: mural works, creative art projects, art exhibitions, in addition to encouraging children to join  arts  activities in their schools for making it (green schools).

Agency team: USFS International Programs

Scientists & Practitioners for 2022

Heather McMillan, Honolulu

BIOGRAPHY

Heather sees trees as connectors to our places, our collective wellbeing, and our resilience.  She was born in the volcanic landscape of Kilimanjaro, grew up in the US continental mid-west, and for the last 25 years has found home in the volcanic landscapes of O‘ahu. She is Hawaii’s Urban and Community Forester, an ISA certified arborist, and has a PhD in Anthropology with foci in conservation biology and ethnobiology. She is a humble learner of wood carving, lauhala weaving, and tree pruning. In her spare time she likes to meditate underwater and sing to fish.

Erika Svendsen, New York City

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Erika Svendsen is a social scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station and is based in New York City. Erika studies environmental stewardship and issues related to hybrid governance, collective resilience and human well-being.

Lindsay K. Campbell, New York City

BIOGRAPHY

Lindsay K. Campbell is a research social scientist with the USDA Forest Service. Her current research explores the dynamics of urban politics, stewardship, and sustainability policymaking.

Novem Auyeung, New York City

BIOGRAPHY

Novem Auyeung is a Senior Scientist, Division of Forestry Horticulture & Natural Resources, NYC Parks. Novem guides conservation, research, and monitoring priorities for the Division.

David Bloniarz, Springfield

BIOGRAPHY

David Bloniarz’s rimary work involves research and technology transfer initiatives related to urban natural resource structure, function and value. The development of new tools and technologies that can be utilized by planners, managers and researchers are the primary focus of the work undertaken by the Urban Natural Resources Institute (UNRI), where Dr. Bloniarz serves as its project director. Additionally, work includes membership on the i-Tree Development Team, which serves as the leadership mechanism for bringing this public domain urban forest inventory, assessment and reporting software tool to user communities across the world.

Travis Warziniack, Denver

BIOGRAPHY

Travis is a research environmental economist. Most of his work is on general equilibrium and computational modeling, largely related to water-based ecosystem services.

Susannah Lerman, Springfield

BIOGRAPHY

My research highlights strategies and tools for reconciling urban development with conservation. I use a socio-ecological approach to improve fundamental understanding of key ecological processes in urban systems, with a focus on wildlife. I explore the links between human management of the urban forest (e.g. yards, neighborhood parks and open space) and the health and success of native bird and bee populations, and how these impacts subsequently feedback to influence people due to the role of biodiversity in delivering ecosystem services. I partner with citizen scientists as a means to explain scientific findings to varying audiences while trying to facilitate connections between the public’s personal lives and the urban ecosystem.

Dana Coelho, Denver

BIOGRAPHY

15+ years of interdisciplinary academic and professional experience in collaborative conservation, urban and environmental planning, policy analysis, design, and community organizing. Advanced computer, research, and communication skills.

Jerry Bauer, San Juan

BIOGRAPHY

Director of International Cooperation. Provide technical assistance to international aid agencies, not-for-profit organizations and local communities in the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change, natural resources, environmental assessments, and sustainable eco-tourism.

Developed technical assistance programs and provided technical assistance in Dominican Republic (4 yrs), Jamaica (3 yrs), Nicaragua (3 yrs) for conservation of biodiversity, climate change, and ecotourism. Provided mentorship and leadership for start up local community small businesses to support conservation and ecotourism.

Received several international awards for products developed and photography to market and promote ecotourism activities.

Erica Smith Fichman, Philadelphia

BIOGRAPHY

– Project lead for the Philadelphia Urban Forest Strategic Plan, to establish a 10 year strategic plan for the planting and care of Philadelphia’s urban forest, guided by values of environmental justice, community engagement, and sustainability.
– Supervision of staff to manage the TreePhilly Community Yard Tree Giveaway program, which engages community partners and residents across the city to plant and care for trees on private property.
– Grant writing, corporate sponsorship management, and budgeting for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s urban forestry efforts.
– Communications: coordinating city-wide marketing campaigns, maintaining partner relations, managing website and social media accounts, doing resident and community outreach, and development of educational materials.
– Coordinating training opportunities for Urban Forestry Division staff.

Liza Paqueo, Washington

BIOGRAPHY

Urban Forest Programs Specialist at US Forest Service International Programs.

Bonnie Ralston, New York City

BIOGRAPHY

Bonnie Ralston (she/her) serves as the Director of Programming & Development for NYC Parks. Her team facilitates the creation of programming, resources, and partnerships that foster public understanding of the value of urban parks. Prior to joining Parks in 2017, Ralston worked in environmental education for Audubon New York, Central Park Conservancy, GrowNYC, The Horticultural Society of New York, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Bonnie holds an MS in Ecological Teaching and Learning from Lesley University, and a BFA from Hartford Art School. Outside of work, she is a practicing artist focusing on process-driven sculpture and works on paper.

Nancy Falxa Sonti, Baltimore

BIOGRAPHY

Nancy Falxa Sonti is an Ecologist with the US Forest Service Northern Research Station at the Baltimore Field Station, where she works as an interdisciplinary researcher studying urban social-ecological systems. Nancy works to build collaboration between academics, community groups, and government agencies in order to support the research activities of the Baltimore Field Station. Her current research interests include urban tree ecophysiology and processes of forest restoration and regeneration, as well as motivations for engagement with urban green spaces such as forest patches. Nancy has a Masters in Conservation Biology from Columbia University and a PhD in Plant Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.

David Maddox, New York City

BIOGRAPHY

David loves urban spaces and nature. He loves creativity and collaboration. He loves theatre and music. In his life and work he has practiced in all of these. After a PhD at Cornell he worked at The Nature Conservancy on climate change and stewardship, leaving in 1992 to be a theatre artist. In 2012, David founded The Nature of Cities, a transdisciplinary essay and discussion platform—900+ writers from around the world, scientists to activists, designers to artists. TNOC also conducts a global, transdisciplinary, (often) virtual event called TNOC Festival. David has published over 60 journal articles and books chapters, edited six books (both fiction and non-fiction), been sound designer for over 100 plays and authored 7 award-winning works of musical theatre. He lives in New York City.

Chris Femantle, Glasgow

BIOGRAPHY

Chris Fremantle is a producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. He produces Eco/Art/Scotland, a platform for research and practice focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, and commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators, and others focused on art and ecology. He has worked with some of the eminent practitioners in the field including, Helen Mayer Harrison, Newton Harrison, and David Haley on Greenhouse Britain: Losing Ground, Gaining Wisdom (2006-2008) and with PLATFORM on Remember Saro-Wiwa. He has published on the subject and is co-author of the AHRC funded research report The Artist as Leader (2009).