As a 2016-2017 Charles Bullard Fellow in Forest Research at Harvard University, David Buckley Borden worked as an embedded artist/designer-in-residence at Harvard’s research forest in Petersham, MA. Over the course of the year, Borden created a variety of art and design driven science-communication projects with ongoing Harvard Forest research initiatives.

The Fellowship enabled Borden to explore and test the theory and practice of design-driven science communication. Central to his work was research into past and current trends of public engagement with science, specifically ecology and forestry. This research included applied creativity as an exploration of new ideas, communication models, and practice modes. In particular, as Borden developed creative work with scientists, he asked, “How can art and design support science communication to foster cultural cohesion around ecological issues and help inform ecology-minded decision making?” 

Borden’s fellowship program included a variety of research-based design projects, including work inspired by New England Landscape Futures Lab at the Harvard Forest. Led by Kathy Lambert and Jonathan Thompson, the lab seeks to understand possible trends and impacts of landscape change in New England by developing and analyzing a set of alternative landscape scenarios to inform decisions on land-use planning, infrastructure investment, conservation priority-setting, and forest management.

Borden’s creative output, informed and inspired by the lab’s research, focused on New England futures, to visualize how the region could change over the next 50 years. Borden’s contribution intended to demystify the process of computer modeling underlying the project and help translate spatial mapping to accessible visualizations. This futures work included conventional perspectives, such as scenario landscape illustrations using the Harvard Forest’s Fisher Museum’s dioramas. Visualizations also helped communicate qualitative research such as stakeholder focus groups, or tease out ecological development details, such as invasive pests like the emerald ash borer, within different cultural perspectives across varying scenarios.

Beyond the conventional 2D graphic techniques, Borden experimented with a variety of media and methods in which to engage the public on the ideas within various New England landscape scenarios. The work explored provocative communication approaches to help stakeholders appreciate relevant scenarios for the future. It ranged from pedagogical props for public presentation to future-thinking speculative design explorations, as both renderings and physical installations on the grounds of the Harvard Forest. Often inspired by the subtext of future scenario lab research, the work was intended to provoke critical thought and discussion amongst scientists, creatives, and the general population.

David Buckley Borden’s landscape futures work was financially supported by a Charles Bullard Fellowship in Forest Research at Harvard University.