Graduation Date
Summer 2021
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources, option Wildlife
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Jeffrey Black
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Matthew Johnson
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. Barbara Clucas
Subject Categories
Wildlife Management
Abstract
Environmental art projects use artistic interpretation to tell stories about the natural world, often with the hope that they will inspire awareness or behavioral change. In 2019, an art project to raise awareness about North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) was launched in Northern California, using over 100 river otter sculptures painted and decorated by local artists. Through a mixed-methods approach, I quantified the initial outcomes of the project, North Coast Otters, as well as the response to the project by the public on social media as a case study in environmental art and outreach. Participating artists’ interviews and statements revealed inspiration from the natural world and the shared environments of humans and river otters. Art themes were equally distributed between abstract interpretations of their relationships with nature and direct representations of river otter ecology and the natural world. Responses on social media varied between the two platforms, suggesting that for this project different approaches to outreach had different levels of success. The findings add to the growing body of research in environmental art and serve as a baseline for understanding the impacts to a corresponding citizen science monitoring project when North Coast Otters is completed.
Citation Style
JWM
Recommended Citation
Barger, Jess, "Merging art and science: Lessons learned from an 'otterly' different case study" (2021). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 513.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/513