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How can I as a storyteller talk about humans and nature and the relation between us and the natural world? How can storytelling contribute to create interest and engagement in nature and the environment? In this project I have investigated different ways of talking about nature, climate and humans, trying to find a different voice and angle on this everlasting important theme. Through practical research I have tried different strategies, voices and moods, with the result being a very personal approach to nature and environmental anxiety in a short, dark, poetic film. / <p>The full thesis contains copyrighted material</p><p>which has been removed in the published version.</p>

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My work investigates both the objective and the subjective nature of my intimate relationship with nature. I explore my embrace of both art and science, the realistic and the abstract in my search for the immanence of goodness in creation. From a grain of pollen to a beautiful blossom to a decaying pod, the natural world celebrates life’s insistence on recreating itself. All around me, nature is quietly dancing to a peaceful song of restoration and balance that offers me hope of a continuance and beauty in spite of the neglect I sometimes offer in return. My recent work, in paintings, prints, and mixed media, features the unassuming forms of plants from backyard gardens and neighborhood walks, both those that are cultivated and those that spring up as weeds.

I am wandering wonderingly through the unplanned material atmosphere shaped by differences in temperature and moisture. The chaotic nature of weather phenomena is the catalyst for visual exploration of the subterranean catacombs of reality. The work is metaphor of nature and its creation of form and substance. Observing art and nature: I am allowing nature to be the instigator of art.

The sculptures I create reflect the elements of the natural world such as trees, the lumpy bush, clumps of turf. They have imperfect yet fascinating textures, picturesque in form, seemingly fractal in design, working together harmoniously to serve the aesthetic. My sculptures, like these natural shapes, are heavy or thicker toward the bottom and lighter toward the top, like a tree or stone. I strive to echo the mercurial, the animated natural surfaces, and the enticing vignettes one would experience on a woodland stroll.

The need for brushing before the first thinning has increased during the last few years. This brushing involves taking away small trees and bushes making it able for the harvester operator to see better and choose the correct trees to be harvested. In today’s silviculture the brushing is often neglected which means that the undergrowth becomes dense and leads to less efficiency for harvesters and a rise in costs. A well brushed first thinning will make the harvesting costs low and time efficient.   In brushing before the 1st thinning all stems below 9 cm d bh are traditionally taken down. This has a tendency to become stereotyped; i.e. brushes are also taken away in areas where  stronger nature conservation should be applied, as in wetlands, edge zones, etc. The harvester operator then gets stuck in these zones which threaten the biodiversity.    This study aims at examining two different types of brushing methods before the thinning, the traditional one and another (new) method where environmental and nature protection aspects were taken into account to a greater degree; i.e. where more stems and undergrowth have been left over and edge zones were not brushed. The study results show that the latter one is to prefer as the more cost efficient one. It also protects the harvester to drive out into the edge zones. This method is also beneficial for the wildlife.   Most harvester operators were positive to a new brushing manual.

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Nicole Katin