Field Workshops

The Wright-Ingraham Institute’s Field Workshops program is an interdisciplinary educational initiative that builds on the legacy of our historic Running Creek Field Station in the 1970s, and series of Field Stations programs which were revived in 2022.

The Field Workshop is our signature integrated educational program which offers a durational, immersive summer workshop centered around specific sites of critical ecological importance. Field Workshops bring together early-career scholars and researchers, graduate students, and professionals to explore climate change through interdisciplinary collaborations that integrate tools from planning and design, conservation social sciences, ecological arts, and environmental humanities.

Field Workshop participants 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, environmental organizations, urban planners, and other experts, fostering a deep connection with the areas studied and their inhabitants.

Throughout the workshop, participants develop their own 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, participants leave with a profound understanding of how to address climate challenges through a multidimensional, place-based approach.