Dear Friends and Supporters,
As we move through 2024, we are excited to share a few midterm updates on the progress made by the recipients of our 2023/24 Grants Program:
- Drylands Agroecology Research
- Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
- Wisdom Carriers Documentary (FlagShakes)
- Practice Foundation
- Leros Humanism Seminars at Columbia University
- Kindness Farm
These organizations are making significant strides in their vital work at the intersection of ecology, culture, complex systems, and conservation. We celebrate their dedication and the tangible differences they make in their communities and in the world at large.
Your support has been instrumental in enabling this progress. Thank you for standing with us and these extraordinary organizations. We are excited to see what the coming months will bring as these projects continue to unfold. We will continue to spotlight these incredible organizations throughout the year on our social media channels and in upcoming newsletters.
With gratitude,
Tal C. Beery
Executive Director
Wright-Ingraham Institute
Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR)
Receiving this year’s Elizabeth Wright-Ingraham Grant, Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR) continues to make remarkable progress in their mission to regenerate degraded landscapes, working at the intersection of human systems and ecological restoration with a focus on education and research. DAR has been actively training apprentices to engage in soil health, water management, biodiversity monitoring, and overall ecosystem regeneration, recently finishing an ambitious insect diversity monitoring project. DAR’s Agroecology Incubator Apprentices is enriched through engagement with silvopastoral management and rain water harvesting techniques (like contour terracing), allowing DAR to promote diverse agroforestry ecosystems and to share its research and support climate resiliency across the bioregion.
As Agroecology Incubator apprentice Casey El Koury reports:
“The experience of research data collection with DAR has been an impactful one, as it invites a certain kind of interaction with land. The process requires us to slow down, open our minds, and hone in on observation. We witness interactions within different biological relationships, identify patterns, note the elements that trigger our senses. Those that tell of the climate, the soil, the water, the animals, the insects, the plants. The program with DAR has taught me to refine complex layers by sieving them through simple questions, intentionally and repeatedly, and connecting what is there. Learning this language has broadened my understanding of research data and its scientific ability to tell another story of land.”
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP)
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP), recipient of the 2023/4 Richard T. Parker Grant, has been at the forefront of crucial conservation efforts in the Escalante River Watershed for the past 20 years. With Wright-Ingraham’s supportive funding, GSEP has expanded its restoration activities, engaging local community members in sustainable land and water use practices, and beginning new work on a series of initiatives with other regional partners. Their collaborative approach with the Escalante River Watershed Partnership has led to significant milestones, including monitoring the removal of invasive species and the reintroduction of native plants, which are already showing positive effects on the local ecosystem.
Wisdom Carriers Documentary by Sunny Dooley
Sunny Dooley’s documentary project, Wisdom Carriers, continues to grow, enriched by the inclusion of new voices and stories. Filming began in earnest for new segments featuring Ruby Chimerica and Twila Cassadore, whose contributions highlight the deep connections between Indigenous knowledge and environmental stewardship. The documentary has already sparked meaningful discussions within the Four Corners region, and beyond, and we are excited to see how these new stories will further amplify the message of rebalancing our relationship with nature. Sunny Dooley herself has also joined our group of Interdisciplinary Problem Solvers working on the issue of Dust-on-Snow in the Southwest as part of the Institute’s 2024 Field Stations Program. We are delighted to support and have the support of Dooley and her community throughout this year.
Practice Foundation
Practice Foundation, a nonprofit regranting organization committed to opening access and expanding approaches to the design of the living environment, awarded two new grants this year with the support of our Wright-Ingraham Institute Sustaining Grant. Awardees included The New Garden Society (TNGS), based in Boston, Massachusetts, which works behind prison walls with groups of incarcerated gardeners to promote agency and dignity through land-based practice; and Anormalidad Gardens, based in Austin, Texas – a community collaborative creating direct access to perennial agriculture and crop trees in their neighborhood and home in East Austin.
Leros Humanism Seminars (Columbia University)
The 2024 Leros Humanism Seminars were hosted in June of this year on the island of Leros, in Greece. Bringing together a diverse network of global humanists, scholars, activists, and artists to explore local struggles against environmental and social challenges, this year’s seminars delved into the historical legacies of catastrophe on the island, and their impact, as well as pressing issues surrounding the global migration crisis.
Kindness Farm
Kindness Farm has been making great strides in expanding its educational programs. The farm has successfully increased the number of workshops and community events, providing more opportunities for immigrant, refugee, and queer communities in Southeast Portland to engage with environmental and conservation education. The hands-on experience of growing food has been particularly empowering for participants, helping to build stronger connections to the land and to each other.
– Congratulations Again to the 2023/4 Awardees –
Elizabeth Wright-Ingraham Grant Winner ($10K)
Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR)
Richard T. Parker Grant Winner ($10K)
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP)
Sustaining Grant Winners ($5K)
Wisdom Carriers Documentary (FlagShakes)
Practice Foundation
Leros Humanism Seminars (Columbia University)
Kindness Farm