Scientists

APInews: Art in Agriculture at Auburn University, Ala.

March 20, 2010newsAgriculture College, Agriculture Food, Ala, Art Department, Auburn University, College Of Agriculture, College Of Liberal Arts, Community Art, Designers, Environment, Exhibition, Exhibitions, Landscape Architecture Program, Natural Resources, Ordinary Citizens, S College, Scientists

This spring, Auburn University continues its annual interdisciplinary series, Art in Agriculture, which brings together artists, designers and scientists to examine a topic related to agriculture, food, the environment or natural resources. This semesterâ€™s series is titled, â€œReclaiming Ground,â€ and includes two exhibitions, several workshops for kids and seven lectures. One exhibition combines agriculture and architecture, called â€œAgritecture,â€ and another features sustainable designs by students in the Landscape Architecture Program, Design Program and Art Department. The lectures investigate questions such as: What is the role of the artist and designer in society at large? Can ordinary citizens make a difference in their local ecologies? How can a university encourage its students to become involved in their community? Art in Agriculture is jointly hosted by AUâ€™s College of Agriculture, College of Liberal Arts and Department of Art.

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Record the sound around you for a map of UK soundscapes

November 27, 2009Ashden DirectoryEveryday Environment, Map Of The Uk, Map Of Uk, Map Uk, Mobile Phones, People, Scientists, Sound Environments, Sounds, Soundscapes, University Of Salford, Urban Environments, Virtual Map

Researchers at the University of Salford are building a sound map of the UK as part of a study into how sounds in our everyday environment affect how people feel about their environment.

ForÂ Sound Around You, researchers are calling for people to use their mobile phones or another audio recording device to record 10- to 15-second clips from different sound environments, or soundscapes.

The information on the project website is biased towards urban environments, but there is nothing exclusive about where the sounds may be recorded. Sound Around You aims to raise awareness of the influences of soundscapes.

People can then upload those recordings onto a virtual map, along with their opinions of the sounds and why they chose to record them. Recordings and responses will be analysed by acoustic scientists and findings will be reported on the Sound Around You website.

www.soundaroundyou.com

Hard science vs harder politics

November 11, 2009news, RSA Arts & EcologyActivists, Alan Johnson, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Cannabis, Carbon Dioxide Levels, Chief Scientist, Climate Change, David Nutt, Drugs, Ecology, Ecstasy, Election Politics, Fracas, Hard Science, Political Context, Professor David, Rough And Tumble, Scientists, Sir David, Uk Home Secretary

You can find yourself feeling sorry for UK home secretary Alan Johnson, currently embroiled in aÂ messy fracas with his own former scientific advisor on drugs. In the rough and tumble ofÂ pre-election politics, an evidence-based drug policy which advocates the downgrading of the status of cannabis and ecstasy can becomeÂ kind of inconvenient.

Itâ€™s not hard to imagine a similar situation arising with climate change.

Maybe it already has.

When the governmentâ€™s former chief scientist Sir David King said back in 2005 that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels needed to stabalise at the level of 550 parts per million there were activists and scientists who were shocked at how high heâ€™d pegged the figure. David King later explained that it would be â€œpolitically unrealisticâ€ to demand anything lower.

Sir David King clearly had a better understanding than the sacked Professor David Nutt of what constitutes â€œscienceâ€ in the political context.

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MA Arts & Ecology | University of Falmouth

October 17, 2009Announcements, RSA Arts & EcologyAcademic Environment, Art Disciplines, Campus 1, Campus Admissions, Dartington, Discourses, Ecology, Falmouth Arts, Falmouth Ma, Falmouth Uk, Full Time, Interdisciplinarity, Methodologies, Philosophies, RSA Arts & Ecology, Scientists, Time Arts

Arts & Ecology MA | Dartington Campus
1 year (45 weeks) full-time

Arts & Ecology has been designed to allow arts practitioners to develop their skills in the context of ecology, interdisciplinarity and place. The MA provides a challenging academic vehicle in which youâ€™ll develop your arts practice, further your ability to engage with complex ecologies and work with other artists and scientists.

Youâ€™ll explore various discourses, methodologies and philosophies conventionally associated with non-art disciplines (especially those of the sciences), and apply them to contemporary approaches to ecology through your arts practice.

http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/ page on Arts & Ecology MA

Apply direct to the Dartington Campus:Â admissions@dartington.ac.uk or telephone 01803 861618.

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â€œGlobal warming is as much a cultural problem as a scientific or political oneâ€¦â€

May 31, 2009news, RSA Arts & EcologyArtists, Confidence, Contingency Plan, Ecology, Endangered World, Global Warming, Greenhouse, Huxley, Journalists, Mccarthy, Orwell, Playwrights, Political Science, Politicians, Proper Sense, Robin Mckie, Science Journalist, Scientists, Sense Of Urgency, Steve Waters

Robin McKie, science journalist for The Observer, has been to see Steve Watersâ€™ The Contingency Plan, and has noticed that that there is something significant happening across the arts:

Until now, scientists, journalists and politicians have dominated the debate about the threat of greenhouse warming. Many have fought well and brought a proper sense of urgency to the debate. However, it will be our writers, artists and playwrights who will finally delineate the crisis and explore in human terms what lies ahead. Only then can we hope to come to terms with our endangered worldâ€¦.Thus global warming is as much a cultural problem as a scientific or political one and deserves to be addressed through the activities of those who define our culture: our artists and writers.

These individuals will be the ones who reveal to us the kinds of lives we may lead in the near future – not just in physical, but in moral and social terms – as our planet heats up. In other words, we need an Orwell or a Huxley to help us define the terrible issues that confront us – and to judge from the recent efforts of Waters, McCarthy and McEwan we can have a fair amount of confidence that our artists and writers will deliver. Whether or not we choose to listen to them is a different matter.

â€œWriters and artists are getting warmerâ€ by Robin McKie

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â€œGlobal warming is as much a cultural problem as a scientific or political oneâ€¦â€

May 25, 2009news, RSA Arts & EcologyContingency Plan, Ecology, Global Warming, Greenhouse, Journalists, Political Science, Politicians, Robin Mckie, RSA Arts & Ecology, Science Journalist, Scientists, Steve Waters

Robin McKie, science journalist for The Observer, has been to see Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan, and has noticed that that there is something significant happening across the arts:
Until now, scientists, journalists and politicians have dominated the debate about the threat of greenhouse warming. Many have fought well and brought …
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APInews: iLAND Announces 2009 iLAB Residencies

May 13, 2009AnnouncementsArchitect, Art Nature, Choreographer, Choreography, Collaborative Team, Dialogue, Ecosystems, Educator, Engineer, Environmental Researcher, Ilab, Interdisciplinary Laboratory, Liquid City, Mushrooms, Mycologist, Scientists, Sociological Study, Symposium, Urban Sustainability, Waterways

iLAND Announces 2009 iLAB Residencies

BIG CAAKe and the League of Imaginary Scientists + E.K.K.O have been awarded the 2009 iLAB residencies by iLAND, the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance. BIG CAAKe, a collaborative team including an artist/engineer/educator, a choreographer/cook, an artist/designer, an architect and a mycologist, will conduct “StrataSpore,” a project using mushrooms to develop dialogue about local New York City ecosystems and urban sustainability. The League of Imaginary Scientists and E.K.K.O., a collaborative team including an artist, a composer, an architect, an environmental researcher and a choreography collective, will develop “Waterways: fluid movements in a liquid city,” a project that examines water through environmental and sociological study and “transforms that information into choreographic actions that engage New Yorkers.” Get connected through the ongoing discussion on the iLAND Symposium blog.

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