About Us
Manufactured Ecosystems is a transdisciplinary research project with an international team of early to late-career collaborators. As the world approaches ecological limits, our mission is to adjust conversations around climate futures by exploring nature-inspired technological solutions. By envisioning these adaptations, we seek to reshape the climate crisis narrative through innovative research and creative endeavours, with a target completion by August 2025.
Our project envisions a shared future where humanity adapts to a post-climate world using technological proxies that mimic natural ecosystems. By employing decolonized research methodologies and fostering meaningful dialogues through creative arts, we aim to drive innovative forecasting research and stimulate public engagement.
Creative arts play a crucial role in shaping perceptions and facilitating sensemaking in the face of ecological collapse. Our exhibitions and performances, both virtual and live, will present real and imagined climate futures, showcasing technologies that could replace or reinforce natural ecosystems for survival.
Objectives
Curate an open-access database of existing technological proxies for ecosystem services.
Identify and document artistic and literary narratives of prefigurative ecosystem service proxies.
Build immersive physical and virtual exhibitions to educate and engage the public.
Collect and analyze reflections on these experiences to refine our approach.
Our Team
Our Team
Dr. Kristina Wanieck is a professor of Biomimetics and Innovation at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Germany. One of her research focuses includes methodology of biomimetics.
Dr Peggy Karpouzou is an Associate Professor of Theory of Literature at the Faculty of Philology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Researching Literary Theories and Cultural Criticism.
Applied Informatics
Deggendorf Institute of Technology - Germany
Literary and Cultural Theory
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens - Greece (ME - Science Fict.)
Christopher Collens is a Creative Brand Strategist and Digital Product Designer with an extensive history in creative directing and managing the direction of B2B and B2C businesses.
Heather Clitheroe is a science fiction writer and editor from Calgary. She has co-edited the 'Heavy Metal Jupiters' STEAM collaboration with the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech, and teaches creative writing.
Brand Strategist
Stardust - Trinidad and Tobago
Sci Fi Writer and Editor
University of Calgary - Canada
Biodiversity Science
University of Guelph - Canada
Art and Visual Culture
University of Guelph - Canada
Giselle Carr is a Design Strategist and Founder of a Life-Centered Design practice called Stardust, based in Trinidad and Tobago. She works primarily in design, marketing and brand strategy.
Dr. Shoshanah Jacobs is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at The University of Guelph, Canada and member of the NASA VINE Education and Communication Cluster.
Design Strategist
Stardust - Trinidad and Tobago
Knowledge Access
University of Guelph - Canada
Dr Daniel Gillis is an Associate Professor & Statistician in the School of Computer Science at The University of Guelph. He is a member of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, & Guelph Institute for Environmental Research.
Dr Mark Lipton is a Professor in the College of Arts at the University of Guelph and is in residence at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science Communication Division.
Computer Science / Statistics
University of Guelph - Canada
Media and Communication
University of Guelph - Canada
Marsha Hinds Myrie
Dr Adam Davies is an Assistant Professor in Family Relations and Human Development and Sexualities, Genders, & Social Change at the University of Guelph, with a focus on social justice and equity issues in education.
Dr Marsha Hinds Myrie works at the intersection of education and community organizing. She is especially interested in transdisciplinary methods as decolonizing practice in education and research.
Education and Social Justice
University of Guelph - Canada
Black Canadian Studies / Social Activism
University of Guelph - Canada
Elizabeth Porter
Biology
Project Manager
University of Guelph - Canada
Biomimetics
Universidad Nacional - Mexico
Dr Mindi Summers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary and member of the NASA VINE Education and Communication Cluster.
Dr Marjan Eggermont is a Professor (Teaching) at the Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary and Chair of the NASA VINE Education and Communication Cluster. Co-founder of Zygote Quarterly.
Biology Education
University of Calgary - Canada
Engineering Education
University of Calgary - Canada
Dr Andria Jones is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Guelph. She uses mixed methods to investigate climate and farmer mental health.
Dr. Benessaiah is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Guelph. Her work focuses on sustainability, transformations and changing human-environment relations.
Mental Health / Epidemiology
University of Guelph - Canada
Social dimensions Ecosystem Services
University of Guelph - Canada
Dave Dowhaniuk
Design, Media, and Communication
University of Guelph - Canada
Engineering / Biomimetics
Georgia Tech - United States
I am a biologist studying terrestrial biodiversity across ecological gradients, particularly the role of invertebrates in ecosystem services and functions.
Biodiversity
University of Guelph - Canada
Dr Michael Helms is a Senior Research Scientist in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Co-Director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design.
Dr Dawn Bazely is a University Professor in the Department of Biology at York University. Her research addresses broad ecological effects of invasive species with a focus on plants and other closely related species.
Engineering / Biomimetics
Georgia Tech - United States
Ecological Biology
York University - Canada
Premee Mohamed is an award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and author based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is the author of the ‘Beneath the Rising’ series of novels as well as several novellas.
Edmonton Public Library, writer-in-residence
Author
Christopher Collens
Dr Christina Smylitopoulos is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph’s School of Fine Art and Music. Work published includes eighteenth-century European art and visual culture & early modern imperialisms.
Dr Alex Smith is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Integrative Biology at the UofGuelph. He works along the steep slopes of Costa Rican volcanoes to ask who lives there and how that is changing in the climate crisis.
Claudia Rivera is an Associate Researcher at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City. Researching atmospheric chemistry, quantifying emissions from point and area sources & biomimicry.
Elizabeth Porter is a PhD student in the Dept. of Integrative Biology at the UofGuelph. Her research focuses on making better use of existing data to reduce knowledge waste, with a focus on citizen science data.
Dr Julie Linsey is a Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Her research focuses on the development of new methods and tools to support the early phases of the design process.
Dave is a designer, artist, mentor, facilitator, and PhD student working at the intersections of Queer Theory & Futures, Embodiment, Media Informatics, and Implementation Science. Working in MEcomm.