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THE RAIN<br />

PROJECT<br />

1<br />

COVER ILLUSTRATION &<br />

PHOTO (TO THE RIGHT) BY<br />

CHRIS RUSINKO<br />

2


TABLE OF<br />

CONTENTS<br />

PART ONE:<br />

Philosophy & Research<br />

PART TWO:<br />

Working Together<br />

PART THREE:<br />

Launching Day<br />

PART FOUR:<br />

After Thoughts<br />

“The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong> has affected all of<br />

the student participants deeply, enabling<br />

them to form a sense of community<br />

and allowing them to learn how to work<br />

together with people of other majors,<br />

opinions and approaches.”<br />

Dr. Changwoo Ahn<br />

The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong> photobook is designed & compiled by<br />

Cameron Evans and Dr. Changwoo Ahn thanks to the<br />

support of the OSCAR SDG grant for the project.<br />

(Photo<br />

3<br />

credits for the book: Changwoo Ahn, Victor Sumin,<br />

and Evan Cantwell @ GMU Creative Services)<br />

1 2


PART ONE<br />

PHILOSOPHY<br />

& RESEARCH<br />

“The enormously complex and more than<br />

urgent problems humanity faces today erase<br />

disciplinary boundaries, and provide for an<br />

opportunity to get a hands-on, minds-on look<br />

into other disciplines.”<br />

Jackie Brookner, 5 EcoArtist<br />

4


Ahn, C. 2016. A creative collaboration between the science of ecosystem restoration<br />

and art in an urban college campus, Restoration Ecology 24 (3): 291-297<br />

A creative collaboration between the<br />

science of ecosystem restoration<br />

and art for sustainable stormwater<br />

management on an urban college campus<br />

by Changwoo Ahn<br />

I designed “The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong>” as an urban ecosystem restoration model as well<br />

as a collaborative pedagogical approach between ecological science and art<br />

at George Mason University (GMU), Virginia, U.S.A. A group of students from<br />

several disciplines (e.g. environmental science, art, civil engineering, biology,<br />

communication, and film/media) participated in designing and constructing a<br />

floating wetland for a campus stormwater pond as part of sustainable stormwater<br />

management. The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong> has numerous implications for college<br />

education, scholarship, and service while presenting a novel way of building a<br />

sense of community among undergraduate students for ecological awareness<br />

and literacy. This kind of interdisciplinary, campus project can facilitate the<br />

changes we need to train higher education students to be able to both think<br />

differently and communicate effectively. The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong> introduced students<br />

to new learning strategies that connected “systems thinking” with art, ecological<br />

science, and restoration practices.<br />

... It is only through interdisciplinary<br />

collaboration, particularly<br />

in education and scholarship,<br />

which we may be able to train<br />

a generation of system thinkers<br />

who can navigate through the<br />

disciplinary boundaries to seek<br />

answers to big, pressing questions<br />

such as environmental<br />

degradation and global<br />

poverty...<br />

... being able to quickly sketch<br />

can be a tremendously useful<br />

and powerful tool when used<br />

to communicate an idea...<br />

... Restoring impaired<br />

ecosystems requires effective<br />

communication skills to help<br />

build the stewardship capacity<br />

of the communities involved.<br />

I believe that art can facilitate<br />

such communication more<br />

effectively...<br />

... We chose a human kidney<br />

as a shape for our floating<br />

wetland, as wetlands have<br />

often been called “kidneys in<br />

the landscape” for their role<br />

in filtering contaminants and<br />

cleaning water passing through<br />

them...<br />

... Although interdisciplinary<br />

education and scholarship are<br />

much needed in contemporary<br />

academia to prepare our students<br />

to be able to understand<br />

and build solutions for the complex<br />

problems we currently face,<br />

the language and professional<br />

cultural differences make it difficult<br />

to do so ...<br />

7<br />

... Both artists and scientists<br />

share a common drive to depict<br />

and analytically explain our<br />

experiences, and represent in<br />

varying forms the outcome of<br />

imagination. Innovation in<br />

science often is linked to urges<br />

to express oneself artistically...<br />

... “Renaissance scientists” —<br />

individuals with strong disciplinary<br />

expertise, in addition<br />

to the ability to communicate<br />

effectively about science to<br />

diverse audiences...<br />

5 6


... Artists offer communities a cultural<br />

and visual context for engaging scientific<br />

data and principles that can assist<br />

with modifying behaviors, ultimately<br />

transforming our environmental<br />

stewardship...<br />

... We must encourage, and strategically<br />

position, scientists to work directly and<br />

more actively with artists on ecosystem<br />

restoration projects. And that can start<br />

from a college campus. The current<br />

crisis of the environment is a crisis of<br />

education...<br />

“<br />

Long-term success of<br />

ecological restoration, at<br />

all scales from the local<br />

to the global, necessitates<br />

transformation of the<br />

dominant ways humans<br />

understand, behave, value,<br />

and relate to natural processes and<br />

ecosystems. Artists and scientists can do more together<br />

to affect positive transformation than either can do separately.<br />

It is not a matter of the scientists providing the<br />

hard-core research and artists the soft outreach; rather,<br />

the dynamics engendered in the space between disciplines<br />

is full of information necessary to solve complex<br />

problems at the systemic level…<br />

” - The Late<br />

Jackie Brookner<br />

... I believe that art should be incorporated<br />

in undergraduate curricula and<br />

pedagogy of various college disciplines.<br />

The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong> appeared to cultivate<br />

“ecological literacy” among the participating<br />

students. Students will be able<br />

to better understand our relationship to<br />

“the larger context of life” with stronger<br />

communication skills through the<br />

collaboration experiences they had in<br />

this project...<br />

https://jackiebrookner.com<br />

9<br />

7 8


PART TWO<br />

WORKING<br />

TOGETHER<br />

“This kind of project involved students in strong<br />

collaborative training to work as a team to deliver<br />

the outcome, which I believe is an important<br />

…element for any ecosystem restoration practice<br />

as well as for developing a sense of community in<br />

higher education.”<br />

11<br />

Changwoo Ahn<br />

9


Class Activities<br />

“Involving art in science education can help students to enhance their intuition<br />

because creativity and intuition are critical elements in scientific discovery and advance.”<br />

13<br />

11 12


Class Activity with Test Beemat<br />

con cuptam quatquaspedi tenimin etur sitiscit quis etus sed eos eos<br />

et fugiae officipsum hicidenis dolupta nestis sum nis aut ea comnim<br />

litium excest eumquib earchicide pratur sint fuga. Parunt, sum rae veniendam<br />

volut quuntFuga. Menti qui blanduciis rest, si tem. Occate pro<br />

ommo quam, non rehenis dolloreium res quisquaecea dicto iditemostia<br />

aut unt facerov iducid quo intet, ut faceati nimus.<br />

Um qui dolo eum id ma eaquaecto modionem. Namet aceatemquas rem<br />

aspisti quo consenderit, cus eaquunt.<br />

Pictur re siminve ndenihi cienis aut hitatest facipsa as excerfe ritemperum<br />

sunt lique aut voluptat eium volorporit, cor si nonsecestrum quia ni<br />

blandae perchillam, nimagnatio venda quam restisquis exped most adit<br />

volupta dolum fuga. Ita alignis sundis con comnis ipites volupta volorerum<br />

si ommosti tempore mporem. Ulpa il molore vellabores rerciditiis<br />

estiis excepe alibuscide nulpa vit aut litatur rem exceat.<br />

15<br />

Tur, cust, quae di doluptatibus sit, unt omnis vel ipsundaerro comnis ad<br />

estrum voluptatet aspelique iligend iaestibus doluptat experuntust<br />

13 14


17<br />

Small-Scale Floating<br />

Wetland Simulation<br />

March 2015<br />

15 16


19<br />

17 18


21<br />

19 20


PLANTING SCHEME FOR THE FLOATING WETLAND<br />

23<br />

21 22


this is our kidney<br />

shaped floating<br />

wetland — about 1%<br />

of the pond’s surface<br />

23<br />

illustrated by<br />

Chris Rusinko<br />

(Student Participant in<br />

the <strong>Rain</strong> 25<strong>Project</strong>)<br />

24


Meet the Plants<br />

27<br />

25 26


Carex stricta 29<br />

Tussock sedge<br />

Iris versicolor<br />

Blue flag<br />

27 28


Alisma subcordatum<br />

Water plantain<br />

31<br />

Juncus effusus<br />

Soft rush<br />

29 30


31<br />

33<br />

Pontederia cordata<br />

Pickerelweed<br />

32


PART THREE<br />

LAUNCHING<br />

DAY<br />

35<br />

34


37<br />

35 36


“<br />

Art, and/or<br />

artistic, endeavors<br />

can involve students<br />

in exercising their<br />

creativity, which will<br />

contribute to<br />

successful training<br />

of innovative<br />

scientists.<br />

”<br />

39<br />

37 38


41<br />

39 40


43<br />

41 42


45<br />

43 44


47<br />

45 46


49<br />

47 48


Ugit quam<br />

con cuptam quatquaspedi tenimin etur sitiscit quis etus<br />

sed eos eos et fugiae officipsum hicidenis dolupta nestis sum<br />

nis aut ea comnim litium excest eumquib earchicide pratur<br />

A New Beginning<br />

51<br />

49 50


Ecological Science<br />

Communication & Outreach<br />

53<br />

51 52


“K-12 participation is instrumental in<br />

enhancing undergraduate research<br />

and scholarship.”<br />

55<br />

53 54


Plants are Growing...<br />

Summer of 2015<br />

57<br />

55 56


59<br />

57 58


Harvesting<br />

September 2015<br />

61<br />

59 60


63<br />

61 62


65<br />

63 64


67<br />

65 66


PART FOUR<br />

“I see art as a catalyst for the changes we need to<br />

make to close the gap that only science-based<br />

ecological restoration work has been unable to fill.”<br />

Changwoo Ahn<br />

AFTER<br />

THOUGHTS<br />

69<br />

68


STUDENTS RESPOND<br />

What do you think about the benefit of collaborating between<br />

art and science in the <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong>?<br />

71<br />

69 70


73<br />

71 72


STUDENT RESEARCH<br />

& SCHOLARSHIP<br />

75<br />

73 74


STUDENTS LAUNCH<br />

FLOATING WETLANDS<br />

ON MASON POND<br />

MAY 13, 2015 | BY MICHELE MCDONALD<br />

George Mason University students launched a 1,700-plant floating<br />

wetland on Mason Pond Tuesday afternoon. The yearlong project<br />

brings together art and science students and is designed to clean<br />

the water as well as to spur ecological awareness.<br />

“I learned how to think scientifically by working on this project,” said<br />

Chris Rusinko, a senior art and visual technology major specializing<br />

in printmaking. “Having a class that bridges the art department<br />

and the science department is a personal experience in a lot of<br />

ways.”<br />

Environmental professor Changwoo Ahn was inspired to create<br />

the wetlands, or “The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong>,” so students could make those<br />

kinds of connections. Mason graduate students will monitor Mason’s<br />

first floating wetlands for an ongoing research project. About<br />

24 students were part of the two-semester class.<br />

Wetlands help clean storm water that washes into retention ponds,<br />

rivers and lakes and also aid in controlling flooding, said Ahn, a<br />

professor in the College of Science’s Environmental Science and<br />

Policy Department, and founder and director of EcoScience+Art.<br />

Ahn said the goal of the project is to create sustainable stormwater<br />

management in the era of climate change. Floating wetlands are<br />

being used in North Carolina and other areas.<br />

Sophomore Andy Sachs said he also learned how to appreciate artistic<br />

aesthetics by working on the project. He originally thought the structure<br />

should be rectangular to provide the most surface area. But with some<br />

help from fellow students, Sachs says he learned that science projects<br />

also need to be visually appealing when they’re in a public area. The<br />

floating wetlands are kidney-shaped.<br />

Combining art and science is an easy fit, in particular for environmental<br />

projects. “Art is inspired by nature,” Rusinko says. Sachs plans to take<br />

what he learns from the <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong> and apply it to his summer internship<br />

working on storm water maintenance. “This summer I’ll be able to<br />

relate what I learned in this class to the professional world,” said Sachs,<br />

who grew up in Leesburg, Va.<br />

Sachs said he originally wanted<br />

to be a marine ecologist,<br />

but the internship last summer<br />

changed his mind. He’s an integrated<br />

studies major with a<br />

concentration in ecological<br />

sustainability.<br />

“I probably learned more this<br />

semester than in a year and a<br />

half of classes combined,” Sachs says. “Hopefully we’ll get more classes<br />

like this. We were able to see a full project through to actual finish, instead<br />

of just theoretical.”<br />

About 1,700 plants––including soft rush, upright sedge, duck potato, water-plantains,<br />

pickerel weed, and blue flag––were chosen for their water<br />

cleaning efficiency and their beauty. The prospect of combining plants<br />

with art appealed to Rusinko, who grew up in Arlington, Va. He grows his<br />

own food at a local community garden, especially unusual varieties such<br />

as the Pusa Asita carrot, a dark purple carrot that originated in India.<br />

The real benefit of Mason Pond’s wetlands will be sparking conversations<br />

about finding different ways to clean the environment. “I think a lot<br />

of the value is the social value,” Rusinko said.<br />

77<br />

75 76


MEDIA<br />

OUTREACH<br />

STUDENTS SAY POND CLASS AT<br />

GMU REALLY FLOATS THEIR BOATS<br />

“And the innovative class project that George Mason University<br />

has students hip-deep in mucky pond water. The <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong><br />

is a floating wetland, designed by and involving both art and<br />

science students. The hands-on effort creates awareness about<br />

ecology along with cleaning the pond naturally. There are about<br />

1,700 native plants in the floating wetlands. In August, students<br />

will harvest those plants and remove pollution from the pond,”<br />

reports NBC4<br />

79news anchor Pat Lawson Muse.<br />

77 78


TEDx TALK AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY<br />

81<br />

79 80


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<br />

& SPONSORS<br />

Thanks go to University Life, the<br />

College of Science Dean’s Office,<br />

Biology and Environmental<br />

Science and Policy departments,<br />

at GMU for their support of the<br />

<strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong>.<br />

Special thanks go to Mason 4-VA<br />

Innovation Grant and OSCAR that<br />

also sponsored the <strong>Rain</strong> <strong>Project</strong>,<br />

as well as to the following three<br />

classes for their participation:<br />

83<br />

EVPP 378/BIOL 379:<br />

Ecological Sustainability<br />

EVPP 646/647:<br />

Wetland Ecology & Management<br />

EVPP 650:<br />

Ecosystem Analysis/Modeling<br />

81 82


RAIN PROJECT<br />

PARTICIPANTS<br />

Abigail Armuth<br />

Ashton Bandy<br />

Khafre Barclift<br />

Abigail Baxter<br />

Jillian Brooks<br />

Vinson Corbo<br />

Charles Cressey<br />

Suzanne Dee<br />

Evelin Espana<br />

Cameron Evans<br />

Kathryn Faulcouner<br />

Anthony Frank<br />

Jesse Glendon<br />

Zuhair Haleem<br />

Bill Harper<br />

Michael Harrier<br />

Rebecca Jackson<br />

Kelsi Jones<br />

Alexander Krupp<br />

Beatrice Laureno<br />

Tulia MacDicken<br />

Samar Madi<br />

Brendan McAndrew<br />

Mahek Mehta<br />

Romaric Moncrieffe<br />

Chris Rusinko<br />

Andy Sachs<br />

Stacey Spillman<br />

Joanna Spooner<br />

Victor Sumin<br />

Victoria Van Dorn<br />

Samantha Vo<br />

Frances Yee<br />

Dr. Changwoo Ahn<br />

& many more volunteers!<br />

85<br />

83 84

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