Canopy confluences: Bringing together researchers and artists to create science, art, and outreach materials

The term “confluence” is a flowing together or meeting of different elements, such as where a stream flows into a river. Although the perceptions, approaches, and tools of scientists and artists seem to differ, one common goal is to document, understand, and inspire the protection of nature. I staged field-based “Confluences” of scientists and artists to learn how their collaborations could produce both new insights for the respective disciplines, and more useful conservation outcomes than either discipline could alone. I describe two projects: 1) “Branching Out”, which co-assembled canopy researchers, artists, and people who have never seen forests (blind people and Inuits); and 2) the “Cascade Confluence”, in which ecologists and artists studied forest structure. All participants camped out at remote sites for 1-2 weeks. Outcomes for scientists included quantitative data on tree structure and biodiversity, and greater access to the aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual elements of the forest that the artists articulated through song, poetry, dance, and visual images. Artists gathered inspiration for their work, and learned to differentiate species and identify ecosystem services. The quantitative evaluation of short- and long-term results based on pre- and post-event questionnaires proved to be vague and anecdotal, so assessment techniques need further work. The Confluences attracted media attention that disseminated our results in a conservation context to audiences far more broadly than either scientists or artists could have done. These efforts may serve as models for ecologists who wish to extend scientific approaches to understanding and communicating ecosystem studies and conservation.