Ellie Irons

A Sanctuary volunteer since 2017, Ellie became the NATURE Lab Community Science Educator and Lab Manager in May 2022. In this role she helps develop and implement educational programming and events that span the breadth of NATURE Lab, from our DIY community biology lab to our environmental campus, including Collard City Growers. She is also involved in growing and nurturing related projects and initiatives like Water Justice Lab and the People’s Health Sanctuary. She brings a background in eco-art, urban ecology, and education to this work, embracing NATURE Lab’s interdisciplinary mandate to integrate the arts, environmental science, and embodied learning in ways that strengthen the Sanctuary and our diverse community. In her personal artistic practice, she works across media, from foraged watercolor paintings to un-lawning sculptures, revealing and strengthening connections between humans, plants, and land. Ellie completed her PhD in arts practice Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2021, researching forms of artistic practice that cultivate plant-human solidarity and ecosocial justice on land impacted by colonization, extraction, and urbanization. She is committed to deepening engagement between urban-dwelling humans and the air, water, soil, and living beings who sustain us, a mission she finds resonates deeply with the broader goals of NATURE Lab and the Sanctuary.