In light of the global ecological transformations we are experiencing, conservation strategies have been evolving. One of the current ideas that is on the rise in conservation circles is called rewilding. It is a term whose meaning is not yet settled. For different groups, rewilding can mean different things. It can mean making way for ecosystems to regenerate through their own resilience (e.g. by taking out dams); it can mean managing the reintroduction of keystone species (e.g. wolves in Yellowstone); it can mean resurrecting Pleistocene species (e.g. bringing back mammoths). It can also mean embracing new ideas about what wildness and wilderness mean for the living world. The different ways that human communities embrace rewilding has a significant bearing on how we shape the multiplicity of ecosystems of which we are a part.

This class, led by Broadcast contributor Natalie Elliot, will look to different ways we might understand rewilding and consider rewilding in different contexts, including grassland prairie in Montana, the wetlands of Bogotá, Colombia, New York City, and our own neighborhood, Red Hook, Brooklyn. We will open with a thirty minute presentation which will frame a focused seminar discussion.

Date: This in-person workshop will meet once on Thursday, April 14 from 7-9pm.

Price: Free ($10 suggested donation).

Audience: Open to all.

Materials: None.

Natalie Elliot is a science writer, an artist, and a college professor who focuses the interplay between literature and the living world. Elliot has taught interdisciplinary seminars at St. John's College since 2011, and in the past few years she has been in Montana working on a novel about wildlife conservation. She believes that ecology is a core part of human life, whether we are conscious of it or not, and loves teaching materials that help people develop their curiosity and deepen their thinking together on this existentially important subject.

For questions, please contact education@pioneerworks.org

In accordance with the New York City mandate, Key to NYC, visitors (age 12+) must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter Pioneer Works at Red Hook Labs. Be prepared to show your proof of vaccination upon arrival to Pioneer Works at Red Hook Labs. Please review our updated Health and Safety Policy here.

Classes at Pioneer Works are made possible by Sandeman Port.

This program is also supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.