Interpreting Ecological Calendars for the Public Through Exhibits, Art, and Education.

Abstract

This article describes the process educators at Cornell Botanic Gardens undertook to interpret the Ecological Calendar research project for public audiences. An ecological calendar is a way of keeping track of seasonal changes in a habitat. Many communities use and have used such calendars to coordinate their subsistence activities based on these seasonal events. Using interpretive and design planning processes, educators developed an exhibition in the Gardens' welcome center to help the visiting public understand what ecological calendars are, how they are used by communities most impacted by climate change, and their great potential for use by people around the world to adapt to increasing uncertainty associated with changes such as the increase in extreme weather events. To further help the public understand ecological calendars, two artists were invited to create art installations as part of the whole exhibition based on the research and knowledge from participating communities. Finally, project team members worked with educators to develop an environmental education activity that could be used at the Gardens and in primary and secondary schools to educate students about the value of ecological calendars and how to create them. The team was invited to submit a summary of their exhibition development process to this journal, as part of this special issue and to describe the process they took to communicate the ecological calendar research to a public audience. The process, which included an interdisciplinary team of scientists, Indigenous community members, artists, and educators' emphasized co‐creation and the benefits of including multiple voices and viewpoints. It also describes interpretation—a purposeful approach to communication that facilitates meaning and understanding—and offers an example of how this discipline can be used by the scientific community to help convey their work to public audiences.