Field Workshops

The Field Workshop is the Wright-Ingraham Institute’s signature program and the leading post-graduate fellowship in Integrative Studies in the Southwest. Each summer, this advanced, field-based workshop brings together early-career professionals, scholars and researchers, and graduate students, to study sites of critical ecological importance. Bridging theory and practice, fellows take a transdisciplinary approach to complex land and water transitions and other pressing problems. Fellows integrate tools from planning and design, conservation, physical and social sciences, and environmental humanities to advance specific solutions on the ground.

Field Workshop fellows may engage in scientific observation, data collection, drawing, photography, and GIS visualization, alongside historical and cultural research, to understand the transformation of landscapes on local, regional, and global scales through a systems thinking framework. The program is enriched by interactions with local communities and environmental organizations, fostering a deep connection with the areas studied and their inhabitants.

Throughout the workshop, fellows develop collaborative projects, drawing on the program’s teachings to explore the ecological and cultural dynamics of these significant areas. Whether pursuing pre-existing inquiries or creating new ones, fellows leave with a profound understanding of how to address climate challenges through a multidimensional, place-based approach.

Following the program, fellows join a committed, multi-generational community of Field Workshop alumni who are rooted in their own disciplines and work as integrators, bridging fields and knowledge domains in the service of adapting to a rapidly changing world.