Intersections and Collaborations
This free, one-day symposium will be an engaging, interdisciplinary exploration of environmental design, which will challenge traditional views on sustainability, foster discussions about innovative materials and practices, and explore interdisciplinary work within the context of environmental design.
The symposium is organized by Caitlin Charlet, associate teaching professor of environmental design at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information and founder of The BioModLab.
Environmental Design (ENVD) building
Room 134
1060 18th St.
Boulder, CO 80309
Closest parking:
Euclid Parking Garage
Closest public transit / bus stop:
Broadway and Euclid Ave.
8:30 a.m. Doors Open
Networking and morning refreshments in room 134 of the Environmental Design building.
9:30 a.m. Welcome
Caitlin Charlet, Associate Teaching Professor, CU Boulder
Charlet guides the Material Library, leads the Biomodernity Lab, and teaches architecture and sustainable urban design studios across all levels at CMDI. Her research is situated at the experimental intersection of transformative design strategies, biogenic material systems and the environment.
9:35 a.m. Introduction
Andrew Mayock, Vice Chancellor for Sustainability, CU Boulder
As vice chancellor for sustainability, Mayock is charged with positioning CU Boulder as a national and global sustainability leader. He is the former chief sustainability officer of the U.S. government who led President Biden's sustainability agenda, including clean energy adoption and supply chain resilience.
10 a.m.Keynote
Jane Mah Hutton, Associate Professor, University of Waterloo
Jane Mah Hutton is a landscape architect whose research focuses on the expanded relationships of the act of building—from material flows to labor movements. She recently completed the book Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements, which traces five emblematic landscape materials that ended up in New York City over the past century. Her work has been in the Journal of Architectural Education, Journal of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Design Magazine and Landscape Architecture Magazine.
11:30 a.m. Lunch workshop
An interactive session where participants collaborate to draft an environmental design manifesto. This process-oriented workshop will encourage creative and philosophical discussions on environmental design principles.
12:30 p.m.Afternoon introduction
Jane Zelikova, Executive Director, Sustainability Research Initiative
Jane Zelikova is an ecologist and the co-founder of 500 Women Scientists, a global grassroots organization working to make science open, inclusive, and accessible. Her work lies at the intersection of science and policy, focused on making science actionable and addressing the most pressing challenges of rapid climate and environmental change.
In addition to her scientific and activist work, Jane incorporates mixed media approaches to science communication. In 2015, she co-founded Hey Girl Productions and co-produced the award-winning climate film “The End of Snow”. She has also written popular articles and an essay in the best-selling climate anthology “All We Can Save”.
Jane received her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado Boulder. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Sustainability Research Initiative at the University of Colorado Boulder. Previously, Jane was the executive director of Colorado State University’s Soil Carbon Solutions Center and joint faculty in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, where she conducted research on soil carbon and sustainable agriculture.
1 p.m. Panel Discussion: Material Solidarities
A panel featuring academics and practitioners who explore how materials influence community building, telling stories and recording knowledge through garments, agricultural practices and buildings.
Moderator: Sophie Weston Chien
Postdoctoral associate, CMDI
Chien’s practice draws on her training as an architectural and landscape designer, planner, and political organizer. This work integrates her experience in the built environment with writing, textile art and graphic design.
Tonia Sing Chi
Director of Community Design, Nááts'íilid Initiative; Founder, Peripheral Office
Chi’s work situates Diné teachings and building practices and fosters interpersonal connections between the homeowner and the home.
Lindsay Burnette
Assistant Professor of landscape architecture, Colorado State University; Co-founder, Rural Futures Collaborative
Burnette’s current research involves employing speculative design methodologies for rural, community-based projects to develop innovative climate solutions.
Steven Frost
Assistant Professor of media studies, CMDI
Frost is an interdisciplinary fiber artist whose research focuses on textiles, memes, queer history, pop culture and community development.
3 p.m. Break
Light refreshments and snacks
3:30 p.m. Panel Discussion: Material Resistance
This panel brings together scholars and creative practices that work to resist toxic materials and reimagine material sourcing toward more circular reuse models. The work presented includes histories of mobilizing against environmentally destructive materials, alongside work that seeks to experiment with different materials.
Moderator: Zannah Matson
Assistant Professor of environmental design, CMDI
Matson’s research and design work focuses on the histories and contemporary reinterpretations of landscapes throughout processes of extraction and infrastructure development, with a special focus on Latin America.
Shelby Doyle
Associate Professor of architecture, Iowa State University
Doyle’s work uses industrial agricultural waste products as aggregate and building material input, and the process of thinking more circularly in architectural materials.
Lisa Morey
Founder, Nova Terra
Morey is an engineer and architectural designer who started building with adobe bricks in the early 2000s. Her mission is to scale the natural building industry by offering an affordable wall system made from locally obtained material.
Hanna Rose Shell
Director, Stan Brakhage Center for the Media Arts; Associate Professor of Critical and Curatorial Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
Shell’s scholarly work occupies the interdisciplinary areas of art and media history and criticism, cinema studies, and the history of science and technology. She is also a creative practitioner and documentary filmmaker, with a particular focus on textiles, photography, and the connections among visual, material and scientific cultures.
5 p.m. Closing remarks
By attending symposium sessions, you can earn a participation badge!
More information soon.
The organizers of the Intersections and Collaborations symposium gratefully acknowledge the support of the dean's office in the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information; the lecture committee of the Department of Environmental Design; the Center for Humanities and the Arts; the Research and Innovation Office; and the CU Denver College of Architecture and Planning.