Role of the Visual Arts in Conservation Research

This project’s purpose is to display the role of the visual arts in increasing accessibility to and engagement with conservation research. This project is working in coordination with the Global Vegetation Project (GVeg), which is an open-source, online global repository of vegetation photography. GVeg allows anyone worldwide to submit vegetation photography with accompanying information on the location and species contained within the photo. This form of citizen science displays an influential means to promote engagement with conservation research while celebrating the diversity of plant life worldwide. To supplement this body of research, the goal of this project is to provide GVeg with a significant contribution of Wyoming vegetation photography to create a record of Wyoming vegetation in areas where photo submissions are currently lacking. This contribution allows for a more complete representation of Wyoming vegetation that can be utilized by conservation researchers as a tool for tracking species migration, as well as increasing accessibility to Wyoming vegetation data. This artistic reflection describes my experience in completing this project and discusses how my photography became a meaningful way to display the diversity of plant life in Wyoming, engage in citizen science, and promote the role of the visual arts in conservation research.