On the East End of Long Island, New York, I meet with Pete Topping, Executive Director of Peconic Baykeeper, whose work spans oyster restoration and water quality monitoring. In this conversation we move into the near planktonic realm of marine life and talk about algae blooms, dinoflagellates, the strange luminous phenomena that sometimes appear in the bays of Long Island, and his work as Baykeeper.

This conversation is part of the exhibition REGENERATION: Long Island’s History of Ecological Art and Care at the Parrish Art Museum. It connects to my broader inquiry into the hidden micro worlds of the ocean and their role in coastal ecosystems, which informs my current sculpture at the Parrish, Are We Psychic Coral-Polyps?, a gathering place for shared learning, collectivity, and ecosystem regeneration.

At the edge of Miami’s beautiful Virginia Key, I’m joined in this conversation by Dalton Hesley at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, alongside my Miami-based artist collaborator Beatriz Chachamovits.

Together, we talk about corals, symbiosis, and why collaboration matters in the face of the climate crisis. We explore how science and art can learn to work together, how knowledge is strengthened through community, and how becoming a little more coral-like in our relationships to one another can help us imagine more resilient ways forward.

Join me in conversation with Melanie Prentice, research associate at the University of British Columbia and the Hakai Institute, and one of the lead researchers who helped unravel the mystery of the Sea Star Wasting Disease. In this conversation we particularly focus on the magnificent sunflower sea star, Pycnopodia. As the wasting disease spread up the pacific coast from California to Canada, more than 90% of these amazing sea stars were wiped out in epidemic proportions. We will talk with Melanie about her role in this groundbreaking discovery, the creativity that happens inside the lab, the ecological importance of the sunflower sea stars as a keystone species and what comes next.

The conversation on this episode is part of my 2025 artist residency at Willapa Bay, on the coastal peninsula of Washington State. Thank you Willapa Bay Artist in Residence for gift of time and expansive studio space, and for inviting me to be in residence this August session.