What would we learn and experience if we attuned ourselves to the world with the open heart of an artist and restless curiosity of a scientist?
Artist Sara Bouchard visited the Rice Rivers Center at Virginia Commonweath University with ecologist Chris Gough to record the inside of a tree. They placed a probe in the tree xylem, the plant tissue that carries water and minerals from roots up through the stem and to the leaves.
Sara’s interest with sonification arouse from “seeing sound” in the environment around her. Her creative journey integrating sound and science ranges from analyzing data by hand to leveraging environmental sensors and live coding for real-time interactive experiences. Through her sonification work, Sara seeks to foster emotional resonance and community connection, helping people not only understand but truly feel the story of our landscapes.
A major effort in Chris’ research lab is monitoring tidal wetlands in the Rice Rivers Center to investigate the controls on both carbon dioxide uptake and methane emissions. His research aims to understand how disturbance, succession, and climate change shape carbon cycling and ecosystem structure in forests and wetlands.
