Christopher X J. Jensen
Professor, Pratt Institute

STEAMplant project brings local primary school kids to Pratt’s Textile Dye Garden

Posted 30 Nov 2022 / 0

I am excited about having participated in a wonderful STEAMplant project headed up by Art and Design Education graduate student Ana Codorean. The project focused on how to get local public school students thinking about interdependence and the ways in which natural dyes can be used in creative work. Encompassing an impressive breadth of scientific Read More

A Major Post, Art & Design, Coevolution, Community Ecology, Competition, Department of Mathematics & Science, Ecology, Ecology Education, Fashion, Green Design, Interactions, Mutualism, Pollination, Pratt Institute, Public Outreach, Reciprocity, Science in Art & Design, STEAMplant, Sustainability, Teaching

Interdisciplinary artist Ellie Irons to speak at Pratt Institute on November 9th

Posted 20 Oct 2017 / 0

I am very excited to announce that artist Ellie Irons will speak at Pratt Institute on November 9th, 2017 at 6 pm in ARC Building Room E-02. Her talk is entitled Public Fieldwork & Weedy Resistance: Practicing Social-Ecological Art in the (so-called) Anthropocene and will provide a tour of her diverse individual and collaborative works of Read More

A Major Post, Activism, Adaptation, Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, Commensalism, Community Ecology, Competition, Department of Mathematics & Science, Ecological Restoration, Ecology, Ecosystem Services, Grasslands, Habitat Destruction, Habitat Fragmentation, Invasive Species, Mutualism, Pollination, Pollution, Pratt Academic Senate, Public Art, Public Outreach, Resilience, Science in Art & Design, Sustainability, Sustainable Urban Design, Temperate Forest, Urban Ecology, Urban Planning

Deep Look on nutrient transport by salmon

Posted 09 Oct 2017 / 0

I have taught about the importance of nutrient transport by salmon in my Ecology course before, using an old Scientific American article. But this video is amazing. The footage of the salmon spawning and of blowfly maggots devouring a salmon carcass are phenomenal. A great teaching tool for talking about how community ecology drives nutrient Read More

A Minor Post, Decomposition, Ecology, Ecology Education, Film & Video, Film, Television, & Video, Freshwater Ecosystems, Keystone Species, MSCI-270, Ecology, Mutualism, Nutrient Cycling, Predation, Rivers & Streams, Temperate Forest

BK BioReactor visualizes Gowanus Canal microbial communities

Posted 23 Sep 2017 / 0

Gowanus Canal images courtesy All-Nite Images via Wikimedia Commons My colleague Romie Littrell referred me to a really interesting project of the BK BioReactor group that visualizes microbial community diversity in the Gowanus Canal: http://www.bkbioreactor.com/visualization/ For those who are not familiar with the Gowanus Canal, an historically-important Brooklyn shipping lane that is now a Superfund Read More

A Minor Post, Anthropogenic Change, Biology (general), Bogs & Wetlands, Community Ecology, Conservation Biology, DNA Barcoding, Ecological Restoration, Educational Software and Apps, Experiments (General), Freshwater Ecosystems, Genetics, Geography, Information Design, Intertidal Zones, Microbial Ecology, Web

My review of new edited Trophic Ecology book out in the Quarterly Review of Biology

Posted 24 May 2017 / 0

Book reviews are certainly not the most important or monumental works that I might hope to publish, but I still think that they are valuable. I am excited that my most recent book review has been published in the Quarterly Review of Biology. I reviewed an edited volume out on Cambridge University Press entitled Trophic Read More

A Major Post, Books, Community Ecology, Ecology, My publications

Dr. Roland Kays to speak about conservation biology and camera trapping as part of Pratt’s Green Week celebration

Posted 15 Mar 2017 / 0

I am proud to be collaborating with Photography Labs Manager and Assistant Professor Andy Todd to bring Dr. Roland Kays of North Carolina State University to Pratt Institute. Dr. Kays will make two appearances on the Brooklyn campus during the annual Green Week celebration: On Thursday, March 30th at 6 pm in ARC E-2, Dr. Kays will Read More

A Major Post, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Biodiversity Loss, Birds, Canids, Citizen Science, Community Ecology, Conservation Biology, Department of Mathematics & Science, Experiments (General), Felids, Hypothesis Testing, Photography, Population Pressure, Primates, Public Outreach, Sustainability

Science and art in dialogue: Pratt Manhattan Gallery hosts Dr. Rachael Winfree

Posted 02 Feb 2017 / 0

I am proud to have contributed to an exciting event happening next Thursday, February 9th, 2017 at 6 pm at Pratt Manhattan Gallery. For the past two months this prominent on-campus gallery has featured a show called Nectar: War upon the Bees. The show contains a great variety of works that engage questions of agricultural sustainability, human Read More

A Minor Post, Anthropogenic Change, Art & Design, Biodiversity Loss, Community Ecology, Film & Video, Food, Habitat Destruction, Habitat Fragmentation, Hymenoptera, Installation Art, Interactions, Mutualism, Photography, Pollination, Pollution, Pratt Institute, Science in Art & Design, Sculpture, Sustainability, Sustainable Agriculture

Science & Sustainability at the Green Meadow Waldorf School

Posted 22 Mar 2016 / 1

On Monday, March 21st I had the pleasure of visiting the Green Meadow Waldorf School in Chestnut Ridge, New York to discuss the role that science plays in helping people to achieve the goal of a sustainable society. In a talk entitled “Pulling Humanity Back Inside the Boundaries: How Science Serves Sustainability“, I gave students some Read More

A Major Post, Belief, Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, Closed Loop Systems, Community Ecology, Conservation Biology, Ecology Education, Economic sustainability, Economics, Ecosystem Services, Eutrophication, Food, Habitat Destruction, Hypothesis Testing, Methods, Philosophy, Pollution, Public Outreach, Public Policy, Quantitative Analysis, Resource Consumption, Science (General), Sustainability, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Harvesting, System Stability, Teaching, Water Supply, Wild Foods

“In Defense of Plants” podcast on Urban Ecology

Posted 18 Feb 2016 / 0

Today I listened for the first time to the In Defense of Plants podcast. I have been looking for good podcasts on urban ecology, so I checked out Episode #14 (Urban Ecology!). In this episode, host Matt interviews Dave Spiering of the Tifft Nature Center in the City of Buffalo. Spiering discusses about how urban brownfield recovery Read More

A Minor Post, Biodiversity Loss, Community Ecology, Ecological Restoration, Habitat Destruction, Habitat Fragmentation, Invasive Species, Pollution, Public Policy, Radio & Podcasts, Sustainable Urban Design, Urban Ecology

Are parasites really ecologically necessary?

Posted 20 Oct 2015 / 0

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment “A world without parasites: exploring the hidden ecology of infections” I was really excited to read this article because this is an issue that I have thought a fair bit about. As you will know if you have read my posts before, I am not the biggest fan of Read More

A Minor Post, Articles, Behavioral Ecology, Coevolution, Community Ecology, Ecosystem Ecology, Parasitism, Predation