University Ecologies Event: The Past and Future of the Tufts Pollinator(+) Initiative, 10/30

The Past and Future of the Tufts Pollinator Initiative: A Roundtable

What Could Our University Ecology Be?

Thursday, October 30^th from 4:30-6:00pm in Alumnae Lounge (Aidekman Arts Center, 40 Talbot in Medford)

Since their founding in 2019, as a project of students and faculty in the department of Biology, the gardens of the Tufts Pollinator Initiative have been vital spaces for expanding campus ecological diversity, cultivating interspecies relations, environmental education, and community inclusion. A new, multidisciplinary collective that spans across the arts and sciences has recently taken over stewardship of the garden plots — while asking how we might expand them in new directions, including but perhaps going beyond hospitality for pollinators. Join us for a roundtable exploring the past and possible futures of the Tufts Pollinator Initiative, and land projects at Tufts University. We will be joined by leading urban ecologists, artists, and agrarians for a cross-thought conversation on the kinds of university ecologies that could yet emerge on our campus.

Participants

Nick Dorian, TPI Founder and Urban Ecologist at the Chicago Botanical Garden

Erin Woodbrey, Cape Cod-based Ecological Artist and Environmental Humanist

Mark Bomford, Director of the Yale Sustainable Food Program and Yale’s “Farmer-In-Chief”

Leslie Rogers, Multidisciplinary Artist and Textile Gardener at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts

All are welcome, within and well beyond Tufts.

Please contact alex.blanchette@tufts.edu with any queries or if you require assistance to attend.

Sponsored by: The University Ecologies Project; Anthropology; Biology; Environmental Studies; The Office of Sustainability, Science and Technology Studies; and Visual and Material Studies.

Parallel Events

On Thursday, October 30^th there will also be a series of parallel events on the Tufts campus.

Special Hoch-Cunningham Environmental Lecture with Mark Bomford (Yale), titled “Losing Control of Campus Landscapes”. 12:00-1:00pm in the Curtis Hall Multipurpose Room (474 Boston). Food provided, all welcome.

Seeds Distribution, Cider and Snacks. Please join us from 2:30-3:30pm at the Pollinator Garden in front of 574 Boston Ave in Medford for an introduction to the pollinator gardens, opportunities to join in, some TPI seeds, gear, and cider.

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