planting the estuary
on campus
an interdisciplinary project bringing together the John Jay community to explore the Hudson River estuary as a site for ecological learning, reflection, and connection drawing on traditional wisdom, environmental justice, and urban ecology.
who are we, the human scholars, and how do we interconnect with the more-than-human bioregional elements of the Hudson River estuary?
how can immersive experiences in estuarine ecologies become eco-centric learning experiences?
what are some of the epistemologies that shape more-than-human conceptual ecologies today?
how can we expand on concepts of nativism with respect to plants, migrations, and colonization — moving beyond a static understanding of origins?
a dynamic interdisciplinary community of John Jay students, faculty, and staff gather to read and think together about the Hudson River estuary and the environments surrounding our campus. drawing from environmental justice, Indigenous scholarship, and urban ecology, these conversations weave together science, story, and lived experience across disciplines and ways of knowing.
a small cohort will paddle through the Hudson River on an overnight trip in a direct, embodied encounter with the estuary at the heart of this project. Led by Dr. Bibi Calderaro, the experience is designed as a learning practice laying the groundwork for expanding embodied and place-based learning experiences.
a native pollinator and food garden can serve as a living classroom rooted in the environmental justice. guided by the river and its plant communities, the garden invites the community to recognize the native plants around them as part of interconnected ecological systems far beyond campus boundaries.
session 01. The Haudenosaunee Imagination and the Ecology of the Sacred
by Joe Sheridan (York University) & Roronhiakewen “He Clears the Sky” Dan Longboat (Trent University)
session 02. Botany of Empire: Plant Worlds and the Scientific Legacies of Colonialism; CH 2: The Coloniality of Botany
by Banu Subramaniam
session 03. A River Reborn: Eco-Cultural Revitalization on the Klamath
by Ben Goldfarb
Listening to the River: How Indigenous Peoples Weave Story and Science to Chart a New Course
by Jeferson Panche Chocue