Episode Two — The Future of Forestry by Creative Time

Welcome to The Last Stand podcast, a mini-series on the social life of forests, reparative land management, and just climate futures on the occasion of Creative Time’s newest public art commission, Kamala Sankaram’s experimental opera of the same name.

Expanding over five parts and ten hours, Sankaram’s The Last Stand invites us into 300 years of sonic history told entirely through field recordings. As the years unfold, the human impact on the forest becomes visceral: species disappear, storms intensify, and the drone of highways and planes becomes constant. At the heart of The Last Stand is the fundamental truth that our planetary survival depends on collaboration with our natural neighbors.

The Last Stand runs from Thursdays to Sundays starting at 8am through 6pm from September 18 – October 10, 2021 in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Creative Time projects are free and open to the public. No tickets or advance registration is required.

Visit creativetime.org for more information.

The Last Stand podcast series is produced by Patrick Smith. The music for the podcast is excerpted from The Last Stand by Kamala Sankaram.

EPISODE TWO- The Future of Forestry

This episode considers the future of forests and what equity and repair in land management could and should look like. We start with a roundtable on the future of urban forestry in New York City with advocates from the Forest For All coalition, featuring Alexander Bender(Tri-Lox), Lindsay Campbell (USDA Forest Service, NYC Urban Field Station), Joseph Charap (Green-Wood Cemetery), Tami Lin (The Nature Conservancy), and Nelson Villarrubia (Trees New York). In part two, ecologists and educators Dr. Angelica Patterson and Dr. Suzanne Pierre discuss the intersection of climate change and human inequality.

GUESTS:

Tri-Lox is a design and build firm based in Brooklyn that centers sustainability throughout all processes of production, from sourcing material in ways that support reuse and regenerative forestry to building a resilient local wood supply chain that expands beyond the standard market. They view design as a collaborative process with their clients as well as the surrounding environment.

Forest For All NYC is a broad and diverse coalition aimed to demonstrate the vast support for New York’s Urban Forests, with over thirty partners that range across the education, urban planning, arts, and conservation sectors. Their “Forest For All” NYC agenda is a strategic roadmap to protect, maintain, expand and promote the urban forest and build a safer and more equitable NYC.

The Natural Areas Conservancy is a champion of NYC’s 20,000 acres of forests and wetlands for the benefit and enjoyment of all. Our team of scientists and experts promote nature’s diversity and resilience across the five boroughs, working in close partnership with the City of New York. Their work seeks to Ensure Healthy Forests through tree plantings and long-term management, Improve Coastal Resilience by rebuilding dunes and marshes, and creating tools to prioritize wetland restoration, Adapt Natural Areas to Climate Change by conducting innovative research and developing cutting-edge resources for practitioners, Training the Next Generation of Conservation Leaders through our annual CUNY internship program, Get New Yorkers Outside through volunteer events, tours, lectures, and trail improvements.

Suzanne Pierre, PhD., is a microbial ecologist and biogeochemist, founder and lead investigator in the Critical Ecology Lab, and a writer asking how human ideologies shape the natural world.

Angelica Patterson, PhD., works with Black Rock Forest as the Master Science Educator, liaising with Black Rock Forest’s consortium institutions, developing innovative curricula and incorporating an emphasis on diversity programming.