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May 2018
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boatingonthehudson.com
T
wo hundred years ago Troy, New York, was an influential player
in the American Industrial Revolution. Today in the newly revived and
vibrant Troy (with a nod and a wink to the “Brooklyn” appellation) a
group of artists and scientists are at the forefront of a new revolution:
biocultural restoration! There’s not just one tree growing in Troy but
many trees: fruit trees along with sunflowers, vegetable gardens,
and berry bushes and this is not just some beautification campaign.
As the New York Times reported “Green spaces are a really big
player in urban environments. They can lock in carbon emissions,
reduce temperatures, and capture storm water to reduce flooding,
through remediation, propagation, cultivation and even “rewilding.”
And there is a group in Troy that is actively creating and adapting
these green spaces!NATURE Lab, the Sanctuary for Independent
Media’s North Troy Art, Technology, and Urban Research and
Ecology (NATURE Lab) program with a campus just one block from
the Hudson River and Lock One of the Erie Canal, has initiated a
number of projects since its inception in 2013.
These include bioremediation of soil with Collard City Growers
and testing for microbes in the Hudson. In 2017, more than 30
volunteers collected samples from 18 stream sites in Rensselaer
County that were tested for levels of bacteria and emergent
compounds as part of major study of Hudson River tributaries in
partnership with Rensselaer Land Trust, River
Haggie Outdoors and Riverkeeper.
NATURE Lab introduced students to the biodiversity of the Hudson
River by collecting fish for the wet lab which were later used for
gyotaku – a traditional Japanese method of printing fish to record
data and create art.Imagine: Art AND Science working together!
A Tree Grows in
“Brooklyn - on - the - Hudson”