Events

Nature Lab Block Island Experience (BIX) DEADLINE: February 12, 2020

Thousands of years ago, retreating glaciers left behind a pile of rock and rubble off the southern coast of Rhode Island that today is a popular vacation destination, combining inland rolling hummocks and hollows with dramatic cliffs, dunes and sandy beaches. Native American habitation dates back to 500 B.C.: they referred to both the island, and themselves as “Manisses”, translated as “Little God’s Island”. Today it is about 50% conservation land, mostly held by the Nature Conservancy,...

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Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) DEADLINE: February 7, 2020

The Edna W Lawrence Nature Lab is working on the creation of a three-dimensional mobile visualization platform for viewing animations of ocean model simulations based on data obtained through C-AIM projects. Using publicly available LIDAR data created by NOAA, we have already created a complete polygonal mesh of Narragansett Bay and its bathymetry, resulting in a computer-generated model that can be 3D printed to create a scale model. The resulting 3D print is then used as a platform for...

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Graduate Liason Fall Workshop Series 2017

Led by Maria Eugenia Moya Martinez [MFA '18 SC], Adam Chuong [MID '19], Peter Lokken [MFA '18 FURN], and Kylie King [MDes '18], these workshops invited members of the RISD community to grow crystals, experiment with bioplastics, and make paper using invasive species.
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RISD’s Waterman Building
13 Waterman Street
Providence, Rhode Island — 02903

401.454.6451
nature@risd.edu

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Open Call for Proposals! Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration

Exhibition
Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration
Curated by William Myers & The Nature Lab at RISD
Funding for production, shipping or travel may be available

Dates
August 25–September 27, 2018

Location
Rhode Island School of Design

Proposal Deadline
March 15, 2018
Submit via...

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RISD Weekend celebrated our 80th anniversary

The Nature Lab recently turned 80 and it was a year long celebration of our past and future. Alumni, students and families joined the Nature Lab's 80th anniversary celebrations. Read more about our kick off celebration featuring workshops, lectures, exhibitions and much more.

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The 6th Biennial Design Science Symposium: Inclusive Narratives from Nature

Thank you for attending and participating!

The Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab at RISD, Fleet Library at RISD, and Synergetics Collaborative were pleased to announce the 6th Biennial Design Science Symposium: Inclusive Narratives from Nature, an event which explored multiple approaches to sustainable/nature-inspired making, community development, and other work that facilitates a holistic...

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OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS — The 6th Biennial Design Science Symposium: Inclusive Narratives from Nature

The RISD Nature Lab, RISD Fleet Library, and Synergetics Collaborative are pleased to announce an open call for proposals for the the upcoming 6th Biennial Design Science Symposium: Inclusive Narratives from Nature. The event will bring together multiple speakers and workshop/breakout session leaders that explore varied approaches to a holistic relationship with nature and natural systems, sustainable|nature inspired making, and community development.

We invite...

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Forms and Hidden Narratives in Nature

Forms and Hidden Narratives is an Artist Book Show opening at the Nature Lab on Thursday, November 8th 6PM-7PM.

Exhibition Dates: Nov. 8th-Nov. 14th

It's free and open to the public on:
Mon-Thurs: 9AM-10PM
Sat: 9AM-6PM
Sun: 12PM-6PM

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Biodesign Tour+Talk with Modern Meadow

Modern Meadow is a pioneer in biofabrication using the latest tools from biotechnology to build a new world of materials. Their ZoaTM Biofabricated Materials are designed and grown from animal free collagen. Through the collaboration of design, biology and material science, they create materials to solve sustainability challenges while reimagining material possibilities.

Woods Gerry, 62 Prospect Street
Providence, RI — 02903

September 27 4:00 pm - September 27 6:00 pm

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Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration

The Nature Lab's 80th anniversary culminated with Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration, an exhibition curated in collaboration with William Myers. The exhibition ran from Aug 25—Sept 27 and showcased recent examples of design and art that inform our complex relationship with nature and help us decipher how it may evolve in the future.

Woods Gerry Gallery
62 Prospect Street
Providence, RI — 02903

August 25 10:00 am - September 27 5:00 pm

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Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration SYMPOSIUM

On August 24, 2018, opening day of the Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration exhibition, we hosted a half-day symposium that brought together international artists, designers, scientists and educators for talks, discussions and presentations on topics such as valuing non-human forms of life as collaborators, artistic and scientific modes of inquiry, and ethical considerations in bioart and biodesign practices.

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Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Application Deadline: Feb. 28th!

From May 21st-July 27th, this project will work to document 21st century plant diversity in dune and salt marsh habitats around Narragansett Bay in order to record changes resulting from climate change. We will collect herbarium specimens and create images of all field sites and species present, with the aim of comparing present day diversity to historical diversity records from online herbarium resources dating back to the early 1800s. Using a range of technologies and design strategies, we...

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Leave Your Mark at the Nature Lab

Join the Nature Lab’s summer fabrication team! We are building a first of it’s kind biodesign makerspace and we need your talents to make it happen. Apply now!

The Application deadline is April 7th, 2018.

We are seeking 4 graduate students and 3 undergrads with a wide range of fabrication skills to work from the 28th of May to the 3rd of August, building out the new space. Students will be compensated for 35 hrs a week. If you have a passion for sustainable...

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Salon: RISD's Nature Lab and the vision of founder Edna W. Lawrence

The Providence Athenaeum's April 6th Salon brought together three panelists to discuss the significance of Edna Lawrence’s vision from their respective disciplines. Entomologist David Wagner discussed the role of color and pattern in nature; Nature Lab Coordinator Betsy Ruppa regaled with stories about the origins of the natural history collection and its value to an art school; and Senior Critic in RISD’s Experimental and Foundation Studies department Alba Corrado shared memories of Edna...

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Latin-American Collection Exhibition: aka "The Greatest Show on Earth"

Curated by Oswaldo Chinchilla [BFA '21 ID CER], this exhibition celebrates a collection of specimens from the Nature Lab, partially donated by RISD's Intercultural Student Engagement (ISE).

Exhibition Dates: April 5th - Cinco de Mayo
Location: Edna Lawrence Natural History Collection

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The Nature Lab: An homage to the RISD Nature Lab and its founder Edna Lawrence

This upcoming LABscape exhibition in Hillsdale, New York features 92 artists, including several RISD alums. The curator, Eric Wolf, who is a 1982 graduate from RISD's Photography Department, brings together work that depicts nature and celebrates the Nature Lab and Edna Lawrence's teachings.

Join Eric Wolf and the featured artists at the opening reception: February 17th, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

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Patterns Inconceivable : the History and Influence of the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab

The 2017 academic year marks the 80th anniversary of the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design. During her 50+ year tenure, Edna Lawrence’s collection and her drawing courses introduced students to a way of seeing nature, and its details, as fundamental forms and patterns in art and design. While her shells, insects, plants, animals, bones, textiles, ceramics, wood, and more have catalyzed creativity for students each year, Edna Lawrence’s lifelong endeavor resulted in...

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University of Rhode Island to host 10th Annual SURF Conference

Event showcases undergrad research in RI

College and university students from across Rhode Island will present their summer research work Friday, July 28, 2017, when they gather for the 10th Annual Rhode Island Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) Conference — the state’s largest exhibition of undergraduate research.

Co-sponsored by Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research...

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Experimental Visualization Platforms

This free two-day workshop introduced participants to mixed and virtual reality tools. Attendees thought about and incorporated new ways of sharing their research using VR as a tool and artistic inquiry as a method. Participants experienced advanced VR technology at the Center for Computation and Visualization at Brown University and familiarized themselves with augmented reality (AR) processes at the Nature Lab to integrate into their work.

Dates:
July 21–22,...

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Bee Hotel Workshop

Scott MacIvor from GRIT Lab shared his extensive knowledge of pollinators in a workshop on how to build "bee hotels." Bees are essential pollinators of plants and crops including apples, plums, carrots, coffee, cotton. However, many bee species are currently in decline or endangered, largely because of loss of their feeding and nesting habitats. Building bee hotels is a...

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Green Roof Innovation Talk by Scott MacIvor

Scott MacIvor received a PhD in Biology in 2015 at York University, where he researched patterns in urban bee and wasp diversity, and is now a post doctoral researcher at GRIT Lab at the...

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Structure and Growth installation by David Katz

David Katz is a sculpture and installation artist working primarily with ceramics and unfired clay and a Critic in the Ceramics department at RISD. He presented a site-specific installation in the Nature Lab's bone room titled Structure and Growth. This installation was part of "What Fire Does", an Earth...